It's a rare play which can be described as rambling, uneven and in parts incoherent, yet still a huge success.

But that's kind of the point of Jackie Sibblies Drury's drama, in which a group of actors try to tell the story of a little-known genocide and fail spectacularly.

In doing so, they unwittingly raise questions about our right and capacity to tell someone else's story, and the power of being able to literally write history.

The cast initially attempt to give us a potted history of the tragic events in modern-day Namibia at the turn of the 20th century, when German occupiers attempted to exterminate the Herero tribe by driving them into the desert to starve.

They then assume their roles, including 'Black Man', 'White Man' and 'Another Black Man', in an attempt to bring the horrific events to life.

The trouble is the only first-hand accounts they have are a collection of bland love letters from German soldiers to their sweethearts back home, filled with updates on the weather rather than any mention of the atrocities they are committing.

Amid the frequently hilarious struggle to find their muse - including one member's bizarre attempt to occupy the body of her dead cat - the vanity, prejudices and insecurities of the assembled company are exposed.

The tension soon ratchets up from petty rows about who does the best German accents to a heated debate about whether a black man living in London has any more right to tell the Hereros' story than a white man in the same city, given neither have so much as stepped foot on African soil.

If Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave aimed for the gut, Drury very much attempts to mess with our heads but still packs a visceral punch, particularly in the powerful and disorientating conclusion.

She claims, perhaps with false modesty, that the unorthodox approach was born out of her own miserable failure to do the story justice in a conventional format.

The result is a complex play which struggles with the essential truth that in trying to tell other people's stories we're only ever really telling a new version of our own.

In doing so it is indeed sometimes guilty of the three crimes listed in the opening line, but to remain innocent would have meant admitting defeat.

I hope neither Drury, nor the impressive cast, will take offence if I reconsider my initial assertion and describe the result, in the best way possible, as a glorious failure.

* We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884 - 1915 is at the Bush Theatre until April 12. For tickets, visit www.bushtheatre.co.uk or call the box office on 020 8743 5050.