Ned – Peckham Fringe / Theatre Peckham, London

A thought-provoking new play about nostalgia, technology and loneliness, Ned is on at Theatre Peckham as part of Peckham Fringe, 30-31 May only.

Ned

Have you found yourself wondering, recently, whether a computer might take your job? Joked about it with friends or colleagues? Felt left behind by technology? A bit of a Luddite? Afraid? Jealous? I dare say most of us have experienced these or similar thoughts: we are living after all through a paradigm shift brought about by the development of AI.

Ned, on at Theatre Peckham as part of Peckham Fringe, delves into such questions. It’s the story of Violet, a former social manager who has gone viral for smashing in spectacular fashion the computer which replaced her. Branded a ‘neo-Luddite’ by some, mentally unwell by others, Violet has retreated in the aftermath into nostalgia. If she creates a little world for herself decades away from computers and chat bots, surely things will feel better? Sadly, in the world of the play as in real life, it’s not that easy to escape.

It’s a simple story, told over the course of 45 minutes as a two-hander. There’s Violet, of course. And then there’s… he looks a bit like… no, it couldn’t be. Let’s just refer back to the press release and say there’s “a figure from the past who had the same destructive impulse.” What this manifestation of the past means and what Violet will do next you will have to come and find out for yourself.

Looking To The Past To Understand Our Future

The thing about the Luddites is, they weren’t wrong, but they also couldn’t halt the march of progress. Their breaking of expensive industrial machinery didn’t stop the process of industrialisation. And so the machines took their jobs. Or left them with worse jobs: more dangerous, less skilled, and badly paid. All in the name of cheaper consumer goods and higher profits. This time, it’s not just the manual labour jobs the machines are coming for. What if a machine could write better reviews than mine? Do my day job better than me? Maybe one can already?

Theatre is an excellent place for us to work out our anxieties and contemplate our future(s). Lola Shaw has written a thought-provoking script, with plenty to ponder. Nostalgia for a simpler past is an avoidance technique, she warns us. It doesn’t help us to tackle reality, only to bury our heads in the sand. There’s also an interesting angle on the intersection between personal motivations and political movements. If we take the Arab Spring as a different example, one person’s very personal protest can spark something much larger if it captures the Zeitgeist. It’s only in hindsight that bigger, nobler motives are sometimes ascribed to that first catalyst. Which brings us back to Luddites: noble anti-capitalist protestors? Desperate, scared workers? Both?

The two actors deftly walk this line. Julia Pilkington as Violet conveys her character’s loneliness, and the compellingly addictive nature of technology with all its purpose-built dopamine hits. She has a fragility which encourages empathy and connection from the audience, and we understand her act as well as her attempts to reframe it. Luke Hammond as Ned is a counterbalance in both character and energy. He seems unperturbed by his displacement into this story, a calm, intelligent and articulate presence.

We must all start to face what this next technological revolution will mean for us: nostalgia is no refuge, after all. Ned is a great place to start on this journey.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

Ned on at Theatre Peckham as part of Peckham Fringe until 31 May only