Another Paradise
by Sayan Kent
Sex, Corruption and... Identity Cards
A contemporary comedy
Set in a familiar world not so far in the future when Identity Cards are compulsory and people are validated only by their digital ID in the National Identity Database.
But the system is crumbling; Identity fraud is endemic. Identities are being accidentally lost, corrupted and even deleted. There are those who don’t officially exist. Yet the all powerful system still decides who you are, even if you are sure you are really someone else…
Five people’s work lives, homes lives, even their sex lives, are thrown into confusion when their official identities vanish with surprising and hilarious results.
This topical play takes a witty and satirical look at a controversial government policy that will soon have a deep and far reaching effect on our everyday lives.
Janet Steel's hi-tech vivid production uses digitally generated scenery and soundscapes to create a world in which the increasingly unbelievable confusions of identity seem quite plausible, even logical; underlining the distortion of sense and normality that a world entirely reliant on digital identities will rapidly create.
The determination of HM Government to introduce identity cards despite all the vehement opposition means that the dilemmas, dreams and confusions of the characters in Another Paradise and their struggles against an absurd and incomprehensible system will soon become familiar to us all.
“I was inspired to write this play when the identity card debate started to hot up. Around the same time it was becoming clear that huge computer systems were unstable, unmanageable and ridiculously expensive. So how could the government even contemplate getting the entire population’s biometric identities on a single computer? The potential for things to go wrong is too great to ignore. And what will it actually mean if all our personal information is at the fingertips of a civil servant … or a hacker? Does that violate our individuality - who we are, what we are? Does it make a mockery of our sense of freedom? What would happen to people who didn’t qualify for full citizenship but still reside here? Identity theft is already a growing problem; hackers and criminals are never far behind the latest security development. If the biometric identity card becomes reality, it would move us as a nation into surreal territory. And that’s just where this play is set...” Writer Sayan Kent
“Another Paradise is that rare gem that combines great comedy with political substance. Sayan Kent is able to take reality and stretch it and stretch it to extraordinary lengths, without letting it snap” Director Janet Steel
| 12-14 March | Manchester Contact Theatre 0161 274 0600 |
| 16 March | Newcastle Live Theatre 0191 232 1232 |
| 17 March | Stockton Arc 01642 525199 |
| 19-21 March Sat Matinee |
Leeds West Yorks Playhouse 0113 213 7700 |
| 24 -28 March | Plymouth Drum Theatre 01752 267222 |
| 31 Mar–4 April Sat Matinee |
Coventry Belgrade Theatre B2 024 7655 3055 |
| 7-9 & 14-18 April Sat Matinee |
London Vanbrugh Theatre |
| 23-25 April | London Rich Mix |