2024 - The Town That Disappeared

This duo of plays tackles the dangers of ignorance, greed and pride when approaching a Brave New World of technology and how easily we can become reliant on it. These plays work together to show that integrating new technology is not new to our society, nor is it something we should avoid, however it is something that must be approached and managed with caution and responsibility so we don’t lose important skills and resources that people need to develop within themselves. 

We see this played out in “The Town that Disappeared” where a group of archeologists and environmentalists are employed to test and excavate the land by an Artifacts Dealer and Developer from the ProTech company. However, as they begin they find that the area is a haunted graveyard for a forgotten town - a town once inhabited by the ancestors of their guide who is then thrown back in time into their story as a warning to the present day. 

Back in time we watch the destruction of not only the town's natural resources and environment but their relationships within the community as they trade productivity and ease of material gain for personal involvement and human responsibility and accountability. The entire town choosing to hand over the reins to the towns farming and production to a new Artificially Intelligent Robot Farming system, avoiding monitoring its impact and abusing its technological limits until it’s too late and then refusing to take accountability. 

In the initial scenes we see the towns divide on technological advancement and the many benefits it can have, reflecting our own societies divide on artificial technology and the opportunities it offers. The arrogant but well meaning Mayor Cassandra leading herself and the town into the trap of greed and ignorance as they push the technology too far and destroy the unique resources they originally had, all the while believing that they were doing so for the right reasons. We see this again in our modern day scenes with the developer and artifacts dealers and their archaeological team choosing once again to destroy the land for personal profit, insisting they would never make the same mistakes as those who came before them. 

The audience watches the two simultaneous stories through the eyes of two innocents, a child named Sally, the child of the Towns Mayor Cassandra and James the head of town Agriculture, and her descendant linking the two eras together spiritually. The ghosts of the town that disappeared directly address the audience - asking and pleading us not to walk into the trap of our own ignorance in a Brave new world. Their strong movements and mirror image shapes show us the power of unity but the danger of allowing the pack to make large decisions without question or careful consideration.

Written & Directed by Christie Eckersley