KEEP WATCHING – ENGINEER THEATRE COLLECTIVE TAKE ON SURVEILLANCE CULTURE
· 2 April – 4 May 2019 | New Diorama Theatre NW1
In 2019 we spend our whole lives being watched: whether by the government, private corporations or institutions we don’t yet know, our every move is being scrutinised through phones, computers, satellites, credit cards and devices.
But what if, instead of this multi-faceted, protean collection of algorithms, cameras, microphones and geo-tracking devices, we were being watched by a single, unrelentingly devoted person? How would we feel?
As Kat struggles to navigate the everyday financial, professional, social, romantic and familial issues which define the modern millennial, she gradually realises that her every move is being watched. After the initial shock of this discovery she begins to associate the sensation with comfort and security, getting dangerously close to falling in love with the idea.
Engineer Theatre Collective – the devising company who tackle urgent contemporary issues with a combination of incisive research, fast-paced storytelling and genre-shifting collaborative creativity- return with an unnerving and thrilling tale about modern society’s relationship with surveillance, and the impact of technology and consumerism on our personal privacy.
The show has been written with inspiration from first-hand interviews with public sector workers and surveillance professionals, and valuable guidance from the UK’s premiere surveillance charity Privacy International.
Keep Watching will be written by Engineer’s co-artistic director Jesse Fox, directed by fellow co-artistic director Simon Lyshon and performed by company members George Evans and Beatrice Scirocchi and actress Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo, whose recent performance in The Convert at The Yong Vic was described by britishtheatre.com as “nothing short of extraordinary”.
Recreating an instantly recognisable modern British cityscape, Engineer will continue their track record of innovative directorial techniques by using sung voice to create an overarching and unsettling atmosphere of putative utopia, adding another layer of dramatic tension to the play’s ambivalent relationship to its subject matter.
Engineer’s previous productions include Missing which used first-hand interviews with those who had experienced disappearances to tell the real story behind missing persons investigations, Run – an intensely stylised insight into young people starting out in the financial sector, and The Gap in the Light – a cinematic horror
LISTINGS INFORMATION
KEEP WATCHING by Engineer 2 April – 4 May 2019
TICKETS
£15.00; £3.00 JSA
New Diorama Theatre
15-16 Triton Street
Regent’s Place
London NW1 3BF
BOOKING INFORMATION
For the best tickets, book online at www.newdiorama.com
To book by telephone, ring 020 7338 9034