Love in a time of ecological war
Daniel Nelson Photo: Alex Harvey-Brown
'The Lamellar Project' is both a love story and an eco-thriller, says author Grant Watson.
Image by Arcola Theatre
The Lamellar Project
That’s reassuring, because theatre love stories tend to be weak on science, and attempts to put science on stage usually founder on their unimaginative treatment of relationships.
“It’s incredibly theatrical,” he insists, partly because of the unusual staging of this dystopian sci-fi two-hander set during the Sixth Extinction - a massive loss of species that has already begun.
One character is in a box and is linked by Skype to the other, who is on a screen, in another country: swirling images seize the eye, extraordinary sounds bombard the ear.
“We did a lot of R&D to test that the technology works,” says Watson.
“Fundamentally, it’s about a couple’s love - and also about a love of the world and the countryside.
“There’s a lot of love in it,” he emphasises. “Love in a time of ecological war.”
The couple are on opposite sides, so their disintegrating marriage is matched by a disintegrating world.
“I’m particularly interested in environmental issues,” he says, “and wanted to write about the Sixth Extinction, which is being accelerated by climate change – that’s the play’s starting point.
“The Sixth Extinction poses all sorts of possibilities for mayhem … wars, instability, food shortages.”
So in Watson’s vision, scientists take action to maintain the food chain and bring the world back from the brink. The problem is that the genetic engineering methods they use is owned by a private company that sees other uses for the technology.
Genetic engineering is just another animal husbandry tool, the corporate-minded spouse tells the eco-warrior partner: the problem is not the technology but about who owns it.
“We have to be careful and think about it,” says Watson. “It’s a Pandora’s Box – once opened you can’t close it. It exists. You must think about the best outcomes for your children.”
* The Lamellar Project is at the Arcola Theatre, Ashwin Street, E8, on 9-13 August; £15/£12/£10. Info: 7503 1646/ boxoffice@arcola.com/ http://www.arcolatheatre.com/event/the-lamellar-project/2016-08-09 /
+ Thursday 11 August, post-show discussion on climate change, sustainability and the potential weaponisation of genetic modification with Sir Crispin Tickell, Jae Mather, Alistair Gould and members of the cast and creative team.
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