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Connections 2023: Innocent Creatures

by Leo Butler

Two young people sit on the floor, one stretched out and leaning back, and one sitting on their knees with their hands folded in their lap. The image has a circular ripple effect and a purple and light blue glow. The National Theatre logo is written at the top of the image in white text. The play title and name of writer are written across the bottom of the image in white.

Performed by The Boaty Theatre Company, Ellesmere Port

A play about the future, both imminent and far, far away.

Soon, very soon, Big Ben will be underwater surrounded by ice floes – which is where we meet Enid and Mia at the start of the play – they each have an ice floe each, as they wait to be rescued by the robots in helicopters and taken to the Holiday Inn – to be re-programmed – but on second thoughts, that’s not for Mia, she’d rather die than be rescued\captured and have a chip implanted in her neck, and proceeds to plunge into the icy water and sink to the bottom of the ocean.

This is a world where the robots are in charge and humans are made from recycled laptops, kindles and iPads. All the men were killed long ago – they were far too hairy. No one is allowed to refer to having had parents at the pain of an electric shock – that’s how the re-programming happens.

Fast forward another thousand years and Enid is still going strong, living in the rainforest that is overflowing with animals – tigers, monkeys, horses, bears, trap-door spiders and earwigs – you name it, it’s there in abundance – but the people only eat the vegetation, well you wouldn’t kill an innocent creature for food would you?

Fast forward thousands and thousands of years more and the sun is scorching hot as it’s about to explode and emit its last ray signalling the end of planet earth along with it, and Enid is still going strong, she’s happy, she’s got her pet hamster for company and Mia’s suddenly dropped in to say hello, after being brought back to life a few hundred years earlier by the robots.

The last sunset will be beautiful, worth hanging around for to see.

Thursday 22 June 2023, 8:30pm

Tickets on sale from 11am, Friday 19 May
£5 for one performance
£8 when you book for Innocent Creatures and Tuesday by Alison Carr in the same order

Book tickets

Dorfman Theatre
National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 9PX
Get directions

Suitability

Content guidance

  • Recommended for ages 15+
  • This is a sci-fi play set in the near and distant future, and features characters who are
    robots or part android. Within this context, the play features discussion of characters
    being “exterminated” and “gas chambers”; violence to an animal (which is revealed to be
    robotic); a character cutting open their wrists to reveal wires; and a character’s eyes
    being gouged out and replaced with implants.
  • Strong language.

Our Funders

The Mohn Westlake Foundation supports nationwide Learning programmes for young people.

Nationwide learning is supported by Buffini Chao Foundation, Clore Duffield Foundation, Tim & Sarah Bunting, MFPA Trust Fund for the Training of Disabled Children in the Arts, Behrens Foundation, Cleopatra Trust, and The Andor Charitable Trust.

Connections is supported by The Mohn Westlake Foundation, Buffini Chao Foundation, The EBM Charitable Trust, Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, Katie Bradford Arts Trust, Susan Miller & Byron Grote, Mulberry Trust, Tuixen Foundation, The Peter Cundill Foundation, The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, The Woodward Charitable Trust and The John Thaw Foundation.

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