The Unseen

The Unseen photos

The Unseen description

So what happens when two strangers are imprisoned for no known reason, tortured mercilessly and desperate to escape? The Unseen is an intense, thought-provoking play about the resilience of the human spirit under an oppressive regime, and it is powerful stuff.

Written by Craig Wright and directed by Iya Patarkatsishvili, the set and costume design is by Simon Kenny and score by Danny Short. The lighting designer is Anna Watson, and sound designer Mike Walker, and the associate director is James Robert Moore. Composer Danny Short is also the play’s executive producer along with Peter Huntley and Callum Runciman for Smart Entertainment.

About the playwright

Craig Wright is a respected US playwright, screenwriter and television produce known for his TV work on Six Feet Under, Lost, Dirty Sexy Money and Greenleaf. He also was the screenwriter for the movie Mr. Peabody & Sherman, and his plays include the brilliant Grace, Mistakes Were Made, The Pavilion, Recent Tragic Events, Main Street and many more. He has won all sorts of nominations and awards including the Jerome Fellowship and the 2009 Horton Foote Excellence in American Playwriting Award.

Wright’s harrowing new production of The Unseen premieres at London’s Riverside Studios for a strictly limited season in 2024, revealing the isolation, guilt, and dehumanising impact of totalitarian repression in a drama reminding some of Waiting For Godot.

The story

Two strangers, Wallace and Valdez, are imprisoned for reasons they don’t understand, only able to communicate through their cell walls. As time passes and they become desperate to escape they suffer waves of hope and disillusionment. But they find solace in creating meaning where there is no meaning. In the meantime the man who tortures them is also suffering with self-disgust while trying to fulfil his role, eventually planning a showdown that changes everything.

Playing at Riverside Studios (venue info)

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