The Lamellar Project is a stage play (written by Grant Watson), set several decades in the future, which follows the story of Michael and Carys, two married scientists living on opposite sides of the world. On stage, the story is told through the disjointed communication between the two characters – an actor in the US (Philadelphia) performs with an actor in the UK via Skype.
The world is in the aftermath of The Sixth Great Extinction and an ecological war consumes the planet. Nation states have found a way to attack one another’s food chains – by introducing invasive species into enemy territory and destroying their ecosystem from within. The play is filled with vivid images of locusts dropped from warplanes, strange flowers choking the waterways and wild wolves roaming the English countryside.
Pursued by a Bear don’t know very much else about this world and we’d love people to write about what they imagine could be happening. They are mainly looking for stories in words but if you want to use images, video or sound or make a piece of live drama we’d love that too. They’e got some background information and ideas that might help get you started.
If you’re happy to share what you’ve created, then go ahead and put your work on your own social media channels – you don’t have to wait for their approval! They simply ask that you credit them by saying “This piece of work is based on ideas in Pursued by a Bear’s production of The Lamellar Project by Grant Watson” link to www.pursuedbyabear.co.uk and share using #lamellar.
Make sure they know about it so they can enjoy and share it. If the company really like something they see, they will try and incorporate it into the current show/future work and will give you full credit.
The Lamellar Project: Story Timeline
2025. The beginning of The Sixth Great Extinction. Climate change has brought about unprecedented loss of bio-diversity across the planet – bringing with it recession, famine and political instability. The world has been plunged into chaos as crops fail and food supplies dwindle. It is only a matter of time before the human race is wiped out entirely.
2035. Scientists working for I-Genis, a huge bio-tech firm based in the US, find a way to replace lost species with genetic reproductions, plugging up the gaps left in the ecosystem in order to safeguard food supplies around the planet. Initial trials are a huge success – The Lamellar Project goes global a year later. I-Genis stock quadruples in value.
2040. Food security is restored but at a price. I-Genis own the patents to their technology – nobody can grow crops without licensing their products. There are demonstrations across the world protesting against the inequality of the system – those nations able to afford the advanced genetic technology have subjugated those who cannot…
2049. After years of economic disparity a terrible war erupts between nations – a war that uses the same technology that once saved the planet to attack one another. Ecological warfare targets particular species in particular regions to destabilise the food chain – effectively weaponising the planet’s ecology. Every country on Earth is affected.
2050 Warplanes fly above the countryside dropping butterflies, seedlings and parasites. Invasive species are released into the forests and the meadows.
Pursued By A Bear is a theatre and digital film company with a strong track record of developing new writing. We work with some of the UK’s most distinctive writers to create thought-provoking, contemporary new drama. Much of our work has global relevance – our most recent productions (Kabaddi; Kalashnikov; Footprints in the Sand) were set variously in India, Russia, Africa and the UK.
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