A Dead Body in Taos

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Her digital incarnation is the last of many reinventions: she is seen as discontented daughter, innovative painter, Esalen follower and student activist – present at Kent State University in the 70s when students protesting against the escalation of the Vietnam war were shot by national guardsmen. Penned by experienced dramaturg David Farr (earlier credits include The Night Manager, The Hunt and The Jungle Book), this new piece deals with the innate human fear of loss and the desperate attempts it triggers to prevent it or, alternatively, replace it – only to find that within our nature, for joy to exist there has to be sadness to ground it. Gemma Lawrence is a very watchable presence, particularly when she begins to thaw and engage with her mother’s posthumous identity. Still, Lawrence does good work as Sam, especially as we get hints of a thawing in her feelings and a suggestion that maybe she does feel a loss. Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news, events, offers and partner promotions.

His tension between professionalism and his personal response to the case is subtly but powerfully enacted. Ponsonby is powerful as AI Kath: you can really see the strength of this performance when she switches from a raging breakdown in the past to a smooth, emotionless AI in the blink of an eye. The lack of scientific detail means that the ending risks tipping into magical realism, but that doesn't nullify the story's power.

Instead it spends considerably more time on 1970s Vietnam and the activism that the younger Kath had as a driving force in her life. She’s not talking to a corpse, but a mechanical representation of her mother aged thirty-five, into which her mother’s memories, emotions and biographical data have been uploaded. A Dead Body in Taos is an imaginative and compelling narrative portraying the full range of raw and visceral emotions experienced in our human existence and how the A.

Sam hasn’t spoken to her mother Kath for three years when she learns that she’s been found dead in the New Mexico desert. The best argument against digital enhancement is the ability of human beings to generate their own change.

There’s an ethereal, Don DeLillo quality to these opening minutes, setting a lethargic pace for the play to explore its Big Questions. The play is one long monologue performed by Anouka, accompanied by composer Grace Savage who provides beats and synth.