For the 3rd year, Chronic insanity have made a range of digital pieces available under the umbrella title of Puncture the Screen.
In this post, I am reviewing Lotty Holder’s Lifetimes, a reading that took place before an audience and which is available online until 19 Dec.
Imagine knowing exactly when your life will end, down to the very second. Imagine having a ‘lifetracker’ that counts down the moments of your existence.
And imagine you can influence that countdown, whether by accident or deliberate means. Holder’s play for four characters sets out a moral conundrum and asks what we might do in such a situation.
Would you want to know your remaining time – and what would you be prepared to sacrifice for it in terms of biometric/medical data and personal relationships?
Directed by Chronic Insanity’s Joe Strickland, who also provides scene notes and bridging narration between the dialogue, Lifetimes features two sisters, Sian and Katrin, Sian’s partner Jake, and nosy neighbour Bryn.
Sian is having a baby, so has motivation both for seeking long life and wanting assurance of it. Yet will her lifetracker give her the answers she wants?
As this is a rehearsed reading with script in hand and not a fully staged production, it is left to the audience to picture plot points and character interactions, as the actors remain seated throughout.
Lifetimes offers a glimpse into how technology can be both helpful and invasive and leaves us wondering whether we would willingly sign up to a trial that gives us a fair amount of certainty.
Currently running at around 90 minutes, this has a traditional two act structure but is presented without a break. There is a BSL interpreter on stage, which aids accessibility. More of this please!
I was intrigued about how the tech aspects might be developed in a full version, and felt there was mileage in the male characters not yet fully explored.
Actors Ruth Mestel (Sian), Ben Gilbert (Jake), Jack Burrows (Bryn) and Carys Samelia (Kat) are all perfectly cast, with Mestel carrying the bulk of the emotional heft and consequence of her character’s decision-making.
Holder’s plan balances the political and the personal in a play that considers the human cost of health services embracing capitalism and data ownership.
Available in Puncture The Screen alongside returning digital shows from 2022, Lifetimes is well worth catching at this early stage.
Previous reviews of work available again this year:
https://loureviews.blog/2021/08/05/review-puncture-the-screen-and-pnoc-io/
https://loureviews.blog/2022/07/26/puncture-the-screen-data-driven-film-festival/
https://loureviews.blog/2022/07/17/puncture-the-screen-malper/
https://loureviews.blog/2022/07/16/puncture-the-screen-who-we-are-and-where-we-come-from/