Simon Ward reviews Distant Memories Of The Near Future at the Arcola Theatre

Written and performed by David Head, Distant Memories of the Near Future comes to the Arcola to makes its London premiere following success at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023. Any idea that this may be a low-budget, pared-down one man fringe show should be dispelled at once. While Head takes on the role of Narrator, he is joined on stage by multiple voices and video participants, as well as a particularly moving puppetry tableau. This is a show in part about the power of technology, and so it is appropriate that its complex technical demands are handled with aplomb. Directed by Laura Killeen, and operated by Graham Self, this is a hugely impressive achievement and one where all the technology is perfectly harnessed to enhance the show.

Head is an engaging, witty host for the evening – his beguiling manner makes the smuggling in of the occasional outrageous joke all the more effective. As with all the best sci-fi, the path to the brilliantly imaginative dystopian outcomes that we see here can clearly be traced back to our own times. The challenges of harnessing the latest app to help us find love are taken to conclusions here which are by turns hilarious and heartbreaking, sometimes both at the same time.

Five deftly interwoven stories of people falling in and out of love are set against a backdrop of government-mandated consumption of advertisements, and glimpses of a future where we are required to be grateful for food-substitutes which approximate to pizza or coffee, and where every sexual need can be catered for by ‘BaeBots’, at the right price of course. In a world where capitalism runs even more rampant than our own, everything can be monetised, especially the human need not to feel alone. There is a showstoppingly funny moment when the AI bot challenges in outrage and disgust the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and there are lots of riffs on the AI acronym.

There are many moving moments in the story, but the puppetry scene to me was oustanding. So simple in execution but devastatingly powerful, it showed the magic that ‘analogue’ theatre-making can still possess in the midst of all the technological wizardry on display. A torch, a tiny model of an astronaut, a few almost imperceptible movements – unbearably touching, and breathtaking stagecraft.

This is a laugh-out-loud funny show, wittily and charmingly delivered, which is also a serious meditation on what it means to be human, and where our desire not be alone may lead us. No doubt there will be some blind alleys and some very dark places. We may deceive ourselves and be confused about what we even want. But ultimately there is a message of hope here – humanity does at least still exist in this future – and there is always the possibility of something better.

Distant Memories Of The Near Future is running until 30th November at Studio 2, Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street, London E8 3DL