Minority Report at Nottingham Playhouse Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEw
Reviewed by Louise Edwards
Fasten your seatbelt and get ready for a thrilling ride into the future with Philip K Dick’s Minority Report, adapted for the stage by actor and writer David Haig, at Nottingham Playhouse until Saturday 9 March 2024.
Max Webster leads the cast as he directs the sci-fi play, which many remember as a 2002 film starring Tom Cruise and Samantha Morton and directed by Stephen Spielberg.
The stage is set with a huge screen and we are introduced to the main protagonist Julia Anderton, played by Jodie McNee. The year is 2050 and she is CEO of Precrime, a company set up in this utopia/dystopia future that can predict people more likely to commit murder based on brain wave patterns detected from a chip installed in their brain. Within 20 minutes they are identified and incarcerated so they can’t do any harm.
Julia has an ulterior motive behind her drive for this technology, and this is due to losing her twin sister to murder, and the killer has yet to be found…
It is the 10-year anniversary and they are celebrating as, due to this technology, people can live more freely as they are reassured anyone potentially dangerous is out of the community. Julia’s husband the man behind the code for the technology, George, played by Nick Fletcher joins her on stage. The technology is fed by human precogs who volunteer to make the technology as human as possible by giving their minds to it.
We meet David, played by Tanvi Virmani, Julia’s AI computer-generated assistant. She is Julia’s right-hand androgynous wo/man giving her advice and information on request. She pops up on screen, or as a hologram, and scenes with David are some of the funniest, especially when Julia threatens to demote her to Alexa – or even worse – Siri.
Her talk is interrupted by an activist, Fleming, who feels this technology is open to errors or that people have the right to a fair system and free will based not just on a momentary thought.
When Julia decides to do a live example of identifying a precrime suspect, the tables are turned and the technology is questioned as accusations fly and secrets revealed.
As AI becomes more part of our day to day lives, the play touches on topics that could be feasibly, and scarily, a future reality but it is also perfect escapism for a sci fi fan.
The technology on stage is a step forward from anything seen on this scale before. The creative team behind the scenes including Tal Rosner (video designer), Lucy Hind (movement and intimacy director) and Richard Pinner (Illusions director) have pulled out all the stops to create a visually stunning production that is seamless and impressive.
The play runs for around 90 minutes straight through (no interval) and this works well as it is such a fast-paced script and keeps the momentum and pace keeping the audience captivated.
Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost from £10.50
Minority Report is at Nottingham Playhouse until Saturday 9 March 2024, for more information or to book tickets visit https://nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/events/minority-report/ or call the box office on 0115 941 9419
Nottingham Playhouse Wellington Circus NG1 5AF