12/08/23

Summerhall (Red Lecture Theatre), Edinburgh

Set somewhere in an all-too-identifiable near future, David Head’s thought-provoking storytelling session is a stern warning that we’re all going to hell in a handcart – and that the eventual destination may be a lot closer than we think. 

In this dystopian world, the Department of Productivity is now partnered with Amazon shopping, and everything that makes us human appears to be up for grabs. 

Head leads us confidently through his quasi-lecture, aided by languorous mood music, remarkable lighting effects and an AI avatar, with whom he occasionally converses – and who seems to disagree with a lot of what he’s saying.

The stories are skilfully interwoven and Head throws in the occasional snarky comment to ensure that proceedings are never in danger of becoming too pompous, but I occasionally find myself thinking that he’s not really telling us anything we don’t already know, he’s just amping it up. The overarching theme seems to be that human relationships develop in their own bumbling, accidental way and that the endless attempts to commodify them are inevitably doomed to failure, because no matter how sophisticated technology becomes, it can’t really duplicate our ability to make connections with each other. 

It won’t stop companies from giving it their best attempt though, not when there’s money to be made. At regular intervals, the talk is paused while we listen to advertisements – a dating app that offers to find our ideal partners; a company that wants to buy the rights to use our voices as selling tools… 

I’m particularly drawn to one section that depicts a space miner, marooned on a planet full of diamonds, trapped by the very wealth she’s been seeking, and helplessly contemplating her own lost love as her air supply runs out. It seems an apt metaphor for the state of humanity in this bleak vision of the future. I love the miniature puppet-figure that Head uses to illustrate this story, illuminated by the light of a torch.

Head is a charismatic and quietly authoritative storyteller and he handles the presentation with consummate skill. I leave the Red Lecture theatre with plenty to think about.

3.4 stars

Philip Caveney