Going Dark

Description

How far can you see? A mile? A hundred miles? Or to the furthest shores of the universe to a far away galaxy? Going Dark explores contemporary society's lost connection with the night sky and its wonder at the cosmos, with a portrait of one astronomer slowly losing his sight and how one man's vision becomes illuminated by darkness. It's Max's job to ask the cosmic questions. Passionate about astronomy, he works as the narrator at the city's planetarium where he challenges his audiences with the mysteries of stars and science.When his own life takes an unexpected turn, Max discovers that understanding the universe requires a different kind of vision. Representing a unique collaboration between the innovative theatre company Sound&Fury and playwright Hattie Naylor, Going Dark will be produced using highly original theatre vocabulary of immersive surround sound design, total darkness and imaginative lighting and projections. Sound&Fury's innovative style of collaborative theatre combines the shared skills of theatrical storytelling, writing, performance, visual art and sound design to create both immersive performance pieces and a startling new theatrical language. This has been described as 'Total theatre that doesn't just happen all around you, but that swallows you up completely ... you feel as if you are experiencing the whole thing through your skin" (Guardian). This play is an example of innovative, immersive theatre-making at its best and explores contemporary society's lost connection with the night sky and its wonder at the cosmos.

Hattie Naylor has won several national and international awards for her plays and has had a number of her stories broadcast on Radio 4, including Mathilde, Solaris, J'Accuse and The Making of Ivan the Terrible. Theatre and opera work include Ivan and the Dogs for ATC /Soho Theatre (which was nominated for an Olivier Award 2011), Mother Savage for Travelling Light, the opera Odysseus Unwound for Tete a Tete, and The Nutcracker for Theatre Royal Bath. She also teaches scriptwriting on the MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University.

Hattie Naylor's script is full of the head-spinning facts that make astronomy both frightening and fascinating. * Guardian * In Hattie Naylor's text, the relationship between father and son shines so brightly [...] that it suffuses the whole play with a rich, glowing emotional depth. * Scotsman *