A Nottingham Playhouse, Birmingham Rep and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre Co-Production In Association with Simon Friend Entertainment and by arrangement with Electric Shepherd Productions are staging a production of PKD's short story, "Minority Report." Check out the website here.
Looks like they've tweaked the story a bit:
"In 2050, neuroscientist Dame Julia Anderton is about to launch the next phase of her pioneering Pre-Crime programme, detaining people for crimes before they are committed. But when Julia is accused of pre-murder, she’s in a race against time to save herself from her own system."
Sounds promising..
"Minority Report sees award-winning director Max Webster re-united with the producers of the globally successful stage version of Life of Pi (‘It will make you believe in theatre. A triumph’ The Sunday Times). This incredible theatrical experience creates a world at the borders of science fiction and reality."
Webster also staged a production of "Back to the Future" last year.
There's a Financial Times write up, but it's behind a paywall. So I grabbed that shot above and here are some quotes:
“What’s brilliant about the Philip K Dick story is it’s got a psychological conundrum in the centre of it,” says Webster. “But it’s not a philosophical exercise or lecture; it’s a crime thriller. It’s a person who’s caught by their own system and then is on the run.”
This next one is a great quote:
“The wildness and extremeness that sci-fi allows you to think about possible futures might actually be a good match for the kind of extremity of the times in which we find ourselves.”
The final quote comes from writer David Haig:
"Haig’s Minority Report touches on this 'deprivation of free will, free choice, free thought', he says. 'The fear of a dystopian society controlling our minds is a very powerful one. I think there’s always room for material that projects into the future to comment on the present.”
I think the reason mind-controlling dystopian futures are so common in science fiction is that they express an anxiety that we are currently under the control of a beyond saturated media society that not only feeds us an endless series of things to purchase, but also the necessary mindset of passive consumption (which of course has to simultaneously perceive itself as vital and necessary).
The play runs February 16 to March 9 at Nottingham Playhouse, nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk, then touring to the Birmingham Repertory Theatre (March 22-April 6) and the Lyric Hammersmith (April 19-May 18), London.
Tip o' the hat to star Dick-student Al Berg!
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