R and D

Description

Can a computer program, that basically shuffles numbers of zero and one, duplicate the ability of the neurons to create minds, with mental states, understanding, perceiving. Can we replicate consciousness? David sets his brother Lewis up on a blind date with April. April is like no woman Lewis has ever met before. She is beautiful, kind and intelligent. In fact, she seems perfect, perhaps even too perfect to be real... A moving and fascinating story about the modern intersection of grief, technology and late capitalism, R and D asks what's more powerful: science or the soul? And when it comes to our obsession with 'research and development', how far is too far in the search for 'progress'? R and D was first performed at the Hampstead Theatre Downstairs on 22 September 2016.

Simon Vinnicombe was a Pearson Playwright in Residence at the Finborough Theatre. Previous plays produced at the Finborough Theatre include Cradle Me and Year 10. He won a Peggy Ramsay Pearson Award in 2010 and was a member of the BBC Continuing Drama Writers Academy. Theatre includes Untitled (Brit School commission), Wisdom (Manhattan Theatre Club), Turf (Bush Theatre), The Old Vic 24 Hour Plays (Old Vic), A Night with the Apathists (Union Theatre) Wilde Tales (Southwark Playhouse) and City Love (Bussey Building). Radio includes Mary Cherry and Hard Road (both for BBC Radio 4).