I’m very interested in science fiction theater because it’s an opportunity to implicate audience members in futuristic worlds in a way that I don’t think comes across in short stories or novels. However, it also comes with some very real technical limitations, like the difficulty of building a spaceship or alien city onstage.

This is why the premise of Jennifer Hadley’s play, The Nether, is perfect for the stage.  Set up as a crime procedural where a man is interrogated about his activities in a virtual reality world called the Nether, the sci-fi element of the virtual reality world is easy to see onstage, so the audience is able to focus on the ethical questions that the play presents without getting distracted by unrealistic special effects.

The main conflict of the play is centered around The Hideaway, which is a space in the Nether where people using virtual avatars can come to have sex with and murder children.  Obviously, this sounds awful to all of us.  But what if all the participants are consenting adults, who take on the avatars of children?  This is the premise of the initial interrogation scene, but it quickly escalates from there, becoming a fast-paced drama with lots of reveals, twists and turns.

Although I haven’t had the opportunity to see this play performed, the script is creepy and excellent, and the production photos I’ve found show how theatrical lighting and sets can set up the contrast between the dark, industrial interrogation room and the lush, beautiful Hideaway.

Photo: Ian Douglas from the New York Times