Uncanny Valley

Overview

On Thursday 13 June, as part of Griffin Theatre Company's Festival of New Writing, the company's 2013 Studio Artists will present a one-night-only interactive performance experience, Uncanny Valley.

According to the internet bible known as Wikipedia (just about as reliable as the Other Bible so we're gonna quote it), 'Uncanny Valley' is what happens when you see human features in a robot or synthetically manufactured entity that look and behave almost, but not perfectly, like natural human beings, causing people to freak out and vomit*. The 'valley' refers to the dip in human comfort levels as this happens.

So you can imagine what you're in for. The work will take audiences into a world of dreams and despair and explore the spooky, seedy and surprising fragments of Griffin's backyard, the notorious Kings Cross. It's a follow-up to 2012'sLovely Ugly and 2011's Heartbreak Hotel, a now yearly event that lets the company explore the possibilities of interactivity and of staging work outside the theatre.

This is set to be an outing to the museum of the human mind, created by some of the country's most exciting writers and directors, including Angela Betzien, Tessa Leong, Iain Sinclair and Kit Brookman. It sounds like a colossal Lynchian escapade. Psych up!

*People don’t always actually vomit but there is a general feeling of repulsion.

Image from Lovely Ugly.