What The Future Holds
DAVID CHRISCOLE | SUNDAY, 14 AUGUST 2016
Foreword
"What The Future Holds" is my second stage play which began development in the summer of 2016. The play is firmly rooted in the science-fiction and adventure genres, containing at its core, a time-travel element.
The story is based solely from imagination, and is neither controversial or topical. It won't preach to you, it won't try to change your perceptions of the world, nor will it try to explain a difficult to understand subject that the media reports on incessantly. It's just a story, a tale, a yarn. It will (I hope), entertain you, allow you to escape into a different world, and possibly leave you with some questions.
This blog, which I hope will turn into a linked series of postings, is intended as a permanent record of the progress of the play, as I write, develop, and at some point have the piece produced into a complete professional theatrical performance.
Spoiler Alert
It is more than likely that the various blog entries will contain elements from the script that could be construed as "spoilers". I will endeavour to keep my musing as non-specific where possible, but do bear in mind that sometimes something may slip through.
Inspiration
The idea for this play came from an unusual place, partly resulting from the notion that science-fiction wasn't being written about in Fringe Theatre. This was the subject of a conversation that myself and my Nephew Sean had on our way home from a show one day.
Strangely, the conversation stayed with me, and a couple of days later I found something on my laptop hard-disk I had totally forgotten about. Enter a plot outline for a science-fiction novel. Many years ago I had an idea for the creation of a science-fiction novel, an idea that never really got beyond the thinking stage. I did however write a brief plot outline for the book but didn't delete it. Once rediscovered, it dawned on me that it could make the basis of a story for the stage.
In the original outline we had a futuristic world with a severe global warming problem, and a computer system at the centre of a dystopian society. We had androids and aliens, a search for a lost artefact, a love story and an escape through a time-portal.
Being appreciative of staging a play, and some of the technical difficulties involved, I began to re-write the plot outline to make it less science-fiction and more about drama and adventure. Eventually the aliens and androids went away and I was left with a love story and time-travel, with a bit of murder thrown in for good measure.
Science Fiction, Really?
I have introduced some actors & directors that I know to the notion that I'm writing a science-fiction time-travel play. The responses have been favourable, with a couple of "really?" moments.
Are stage writers afraid of the science-fiction genre? I haven't seen a single science-fiction based drama in Fringe Theatre since I first started watching in 2014. It bothers me greatly because I do love science-fiction. It's not as though sci-fi is a niche genre, it's an absolutely massive part of film and TV making, and has in fact been part of theatre for decades. I hadn't known before writing this blog, that the word "robot" was made popular by Josef Čapek's "Rossumovi univerzální roboti (R.U.R)" play in 1920.
So, why does the science-fiction genre not appear to inspire playwrights today?
Perhaps they are stuck in a world of topical drama, or wish to present controversial or difficult subjects only? Maybe they feel that a story requiring a science-fiction treatment is 'too technical'. Perhaps all of these and more are true, but surely with a little thought, the science-fiction element can be used to assist, or even be a key element of dramatic theatre?
Of course, the one burning question about this is... will it work? So, let's find out!
What The Future Holds - Synopsis
Finding time to save his own parents could unravel Jacob's own existence.
Jacob's dying mother reveals a secret, he was adopted at birth. His real parents died of a strange illness and all they left behind were meagre possessions and a notebook, containing the plans for a time-travel device. With only the barest of clues, Jacob travels to the future on a quest to find his parents and to stop them making a fatal mistake. In doing so however, Jacob may jeopardise his own existence.