More than 50 artists will take to the stage for AiTopia, the first production from new company The Collective, when it has its world premiere at the Young Vic.
In an idyllic, self-governing community where the police have been defunded, the opportunity for an AI After Life promises peace, order and financial reward. But behind closed doors, five families are discovering that innovation has a price. As cracks begin to form and relationships are threatened, will AI help them move beyond their grief or threaten their humanity?
Featuring a cast and creative team of more than 50 artists from Lambeth and Southwark, AiTopia has been created from scratch by the members of The Collective, led by director Michelle Payne and supported by a team of creative consultants. AiTopia will run at the Young Vic Maria Theatre until February 1, 2025.
Launched in June 2024, The Collective consists of artists who have all been part of the Young Vic Taking Part Neighbourhood Theatre project within the last five years. Selected via a series of workshops, The Collective has brought together people from all walks of life covering a range of artistic skills and interests from acting, writing, sound and lighting design to movement, production and Set & Costume.
Meeting every week for a total of four terms across eight months , members of the group are developing the key skills in devising, curation, design, and the core building blocks required in the creation of a show.
AiTopia was co-written by Elsa Joseph, Frances Timlin, Joyce Abosi, Kandy Rohmann, Kevin O’Neill, Rahkim Thomas Hunte, Simon Bracken, Stephen Foley, Thelma Purcell, Xanthus Peters and Jennifer Haynes and directed by Michelle Payne.
The cast includes Adar Owuna, Boma Braide, Deborah Elizabeth Mali Smith, Ioannis Sykovari, Katerina Kaloyerou, Ketrina Brisefert, Kimberley Maloney, Lorna Miri, Matilde Cerruti Quara, Moe Farah, Nana Yaa Oforiwaa Osei-Bonsu, Peter Barrs, Sasha Winslow, Shahab Awad, Tracey-Ann Henry, Eldi Dundee, Marina Hussain, and Michael Sookhan.
The creative team consists of set and costume design by Anne-Marie Garbrah, Elisa Rovelli, Marilyn Rogers, Matilde Sazio, Ama Ababio, Roxceina Hibbert and Jennifer Anne Marshall; lighting and sound design by Darren Anthony Spencer, Liz Heasman, Peter Phillips, Ariel Elkarif and Kemi Adekoya, and movement by Cherlyn Miller, John Watts and Seamus Kennedy.
The creative consultants on the project are set & costume consultant Natalie Pryce, movement consultant Christopher Tendai, musical director & composition consultant Matt Greaves, and co-dramaturgy by Emma Dennis-Edwards and Shereen Jasmin Phillips who is also the creative producer and creative director of Taking Part, the Young Vic’s creative engagement department.
Taking Part, the Young Vic’s Creative Engagement Department, works with young people, adults, schools, and the local community in Lambeth and Southwark, engaging with more than 15,000 people a year and providing free tickets to all shows and free creative and artistic opportunities to participants.