Writer: Emma Kelly
Director – Gemma Hoare
WINNER OF THE MICAHEL GRANEY BURSARY FOR SCI-FI WRITING
A wild, imaginative ride, this sold-out show transports its audience into a future where human consciousness can be uploaded into digital storage. It’s a thought-provoking play that poses many questions and is ambitious in its scope. The imaginative reality created is rich with intrigue; it is also vast. The action traverses time, space, and different realms.
Awoken in the year 2145, Jen (Eva Savage) has been in digital limbo for 100 years, having uploaded her consciousness. Enthusiastic AI Stella (Chloe Orrock) has brought her out of her virtual slumber as she has a pressing decision for Jen: whether to exist in the organic realm, the digital realm, or cease to be. As Jen has already made this decision 100 years ago, it feels predetermined, but we later discover Stella has an agenda for again posing the question.
The most striking scenes in the play take place in the ‘organic’ world in 2145. Jen (Savage) steals back a body, accompanied by her new AI friend, and they take a disastrous road trip across a devastated world. Resources have been depleted, and the population has dwindled. There is a very intriguing suggestion that Jen’s niece may have been part of a rebellion against the ‘new’ order. Pressure is put on Stella (Orrock) so we receive welcome insight into her character.
Chloe Orrock does a skilful job of bringing the AI to life, along with a range of characters from Jen’s recollections, including an ex-girlfriend and sister. The character of Jen, played by Eva Savage, is harder to get a handle on as she is riddled with corrupted memories and has an unusual attitude to existence. We sense there is more behind Jen’s bravado regarding her motives to leave her human body, but as she has chosen to wipe memories of her mother, we never really get to the bottom of them. This opens the door a crack for a comment on the workings of trauma, but it feels there is much more here to unpack.
2145 calls on a wide range of sci-fi tropes to tell its tale, which is described as Red Dwarf meets Thelma and Louise. Fans of science-fiction will also recognise elements from other favourites, including Black Mirror, Soul, and Futurama. It even calls to mind Sleeping Beauty, although of course, Jen has consented to her fate. Dubbed “sci-fi on a shoestring”, this is indeed resourceful theatre. The innovative use of lighting brings the minimal set to life, but more visual clues could really help to build this rich world. Welcome additions are the glowing orbs placed around the stage, which scream sci-fi. A striking and haunting soundtrack has also been created by sound artist Solomon Onyemere.
For a short play, the scope of 2145 is vast. Like Jen’s memories, our orientation feels incomplete. We could use some more time and focus to recover all the pieces. It is, however, overall an enticing journey through a much-loved genre. It requires some mind-stretching acrobatics of its audience, but regardless, we do want to receive this imaginative world as a full download.
Reviewed on the 4th June 2023
The Reviews Hub Score
Thought-provoking, imaginative and ambitious
