If you could be charged for criminal acts committed in the world of video games and virtual reality, approximately 94.325% of us would be behind bars (and before you say you’ve never played violent games, allow me to remind you that even Mario Kart promotes criminal activity with its crash-causing banana skins). Chances are you’re not bothered by these virtual transgressions: they’re simply part of game play, right? But what if game play was far more sinister? What if the virtual world looked, sounded and felt as real as the one around you right now? Enter ‘The Nether’.
It’s the future. Trees are rare, wine is a luxury (talk about dystopian), and the vast majority of human interactions take place in The Nether: a next-gen phase of the internet. You meet Mr Sims, a wealthy middle-aged man, avid gardener, and self-confessed paedophile.
Yep, The Nether goes there.
As the story unfolds, you’re invited into The Hideaway – Mr Sims’ sensory online world. Most of your time is spent in Iris’s room, a space filled with a child’s bed, toy box and a near-constant flow of visitors. Clever dialogue around imagination, creativity and code offers sporadic reprieve from the dark and twisty subject matter, reminding you that this is a place outside of reality, even if it is driven by real human urges and emotions.
The story moves from a perversion too repulsive to connect with, to things that are incredibly familiar, from the fleeting desire to act without consequence to the lifelong yearning for human connection.
At its heart, The Nether concerns itself with boundaries; those between our real and virtual lives, violation and consent, literality and imagination, and right and wrong.
It’s not the kind of theatre that leaves you with a spring in your step, but if you’re up for a visceral experience that wreaks havoc on your moral compass, or simply searching for conversation for your next dinner party, this is right up your alley.
The Nether runs 13 September – 7 October 2017 at The Seymour Centre. Purchase tickets now.
The venue is accessible.
– Kirsty
Kirsty Fanton is a freelance writer who’s very happy with the internet’s current form. You can find her hunched over her laptop at cafes all around Sydney or at kirstyfanton.com.
