Review: MORE LIFE, Royal Court Theatre
Photo credit: Helen Murray
More Life, written by Lauren Mooney and James Yeatman, is a small production about big questions: what does it mean to be alive? To be human? To lose and regain a loved one? And what will the future look like if death ceases to be the end? It aims to tackle AI, synthetic vs organic humanity and how aging changes you all in around two hours. It’s ambitious and stirring, although not wholly satisfying, with some innovative visuals and some perhaps less innovative dialogue.
The play follows the endeavours of scientist Vic (like Frankenstein, of course!) as he attempts to resurrect 35-year-old Bridget from the dead, over 50 years after she was killed in a car accident. But Bridget, understandably, has some qualms about her new synthetic body, and the people she left in her first life. What follows is part sci-fi dystopia, part family drama.
The play is striking visually, thanks to designer Shankho Chaudhuri, with a set both domestic and futuristic, constructed from bee-hive-like cubby holes in a uniform and vaguely off-putting orange. Ryan Joseph Stafford’s lighting compliments it perfectly, shifting the depth of the space from clinical to stylish to chasm-like. The sound design by Zac Gvirtzman and Dan Balfour is ambitious - all eerie echoes and drawling synth - although occasionally feels out of place with the human drama elements.
The story shifts tone well, as the audience grows into the dynamics of the characters like Bridget in her new body, played appropriately stiff and uncanny by Alison Halstead. Although the performances occasionally wobble in the long scenes of deliberately repetitive dialogue, the interplay of the characters keeps the viewer engaged, and the cast move and chant as a convincing unit during the few chorus-esque scenes.
This play is conceptually compelling, and doesn’t get bogged down in details, instead focusing on the complexities of negotiating a singular life unexpectedly re-entered. The premise does stretch itself a little too far for the scope of the production, with more issues raised than satisfactorily addressed, however what it does address makes for an entertaining and culturally relevant couple of hours.
A sturdy production with a few loose wires.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Oli Burgin
More Life plays at London’s Royal Court until 8 March, with further info here.
