You are now here: News and Events > Central YMCA - news > 2008 > Mon, 29th September 2008

Mon, 29th September 2008

New play snapshots chilling picture of our surveillance society
                                   
The Projectionist – available as a drama podcast at: www.theatreofdebate.com

The Projectionist is a new play which explodes the myth that “if you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to hide” in our surveillance society The play, written by Laura FitzGerald and produced by the award-winning Y Touring Theatre Company, is a vivid portrayal of how various forms of invasions of privacy impact upon the current and future livelihoods of three young people. And in this post 9/11 world, The Projectionist highlights the reality of living in a state where surveillance measures have developed exponentially; Britain is said to be the worst Western democracy for privacy due to its increased and rapid use, and development, of, surveillance systems.   Through engaging drama, the play seeks to create informed debate about privacy and surveillance in the UK, sparking questions such as: “what does living in a surveillance society mean for the individual”, “where will power ultimately lie”, “where should the boundaries lie”, and “are we too far down the road to control levels of privacy”?

The Projectionist revolves around three central characters; Candy, whose privacy is paramount to her artistic creativity and sense of wellbeing; Abi, for whom surveillance is her job and is something which she believes society can control; and Mark, who learns, painfully, that that the axiom “if you’ve done nothing wrong, then there is nothing to fear” is not necessarily true. In fact, as their lives unfold into adulthood, nothing is quite as black and white as it seems, and each of them is forced to question their assumptions and ideals.

The play begins in the world as it is, where an intimate photo taken in a moment of fun can end up being passed across a huge number of mobile phones and social networking sites, and where a trivial misdemeanour can mean the police trace and hang onto all of an individual’s personal data. Based on real life events, the drama chillingly shows the effect technology can have – and is having - on our lives.

The plot moves on with insight into the not-too-distant future, where there are companies specifically established to make and collate profiles of individuals based on the huge amounts of personal data already available. And, on the basis of such profiles, they are paid to make predictions about an individual’s future activity and behaviour.

The Projectionist is produced by Y Touring Theatre Company which is an operation of Central YMCA. It is supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering. The play was inspired by the Academy’s recently published report, Dilemmas of Privacy and Surveillance, and, developed with support from:

Professor Nigel Gilbert PhD(Cantab), ScD(Cantab), FBCS, CEng, FRSA, AcSS, FREng
Department of Sociology, University of Surrey, Guildford
Martyn Thomas CBE CEng BSc Hon DSc FIET FBCS CITP FRSA
Consultant on high-technology business and innovative product and service delivery.
Colin Langham Fitt
Former Deputy Chief Constable, Suffolk Constabulary
Charlie Edwards
Senior Researcher Demos
Ian Forbes
Social Science Consultant & Director
Gus Hosein
Visiting Fellow, London School of Economics

How to listen to The Projectionist:
It is available to download this September 2008 at: www.theatreofdebate.com

Engage in the debate:
The podcast is accompanied by a suite of online support materials which will engage directly with science and humanities specifications at GCSE and A Level.

Target audience:
The Projectionist will appeal to young people and adults alike, though it has been created to  target in particular students aged 14+

Notes to Editors:

• Y Touring Theatre Company is an operation of  Central YMCA, the UK's leading activity for health charity and the world's first YMCA. Y Touring is an ITC/Equity registered, award winning professional theatre company, established in 1989 by Nigel Townsend.
  
  
• Y Touring audiences are young people and adults. Its mission is to produce quality theatre, new media, drama workshops and educational resources that enable audiences to explore and debate difficult and sensitive health based issues. Y Touring pioneered Theatre of Debate® and continues to use this format in many of its productions.

FOR ALL IMAGE & MEDIA ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT THE CENTRAL YMCA PRESS OFFICE AT:
press@ymca.co.uk or call: 020 7343 1867

FOR GENERAL ENQUIRIES ABOUT THE PRODUCTION:
Eleanor Lang at Y Touring: T: 020 7520 3097, E: e.lang@ytouring.org.uk