Play about paedophilia in dystopian future set for West End transfer

A five-star play about paedophilia in a dystopian future is set to become one of the darkest West End transfers in history. The Nether by Jennifer Haley will open at the Duke of York's theatre in the new year after winning plaudits from critics who called it "ethically challenging," "morally troubling" and "the very best of uncomfortable viewing" when it premiered at the Royal Court this summer.

It was produced by the Court with the Headlong theatre company whose previous hits include Enron, about the American energy company scandal, Chimerica, about the geopolitics of China and the West, and the recent adaptation of George Orwell's 1984.

The Nether is set in a near future of environmental collapse where people are doing more and more in a realm called the "nether" which is a hyper realistic version of the internet - a virtual reality where sexual and violent abuse of children takes place in a Victorian-themed world of mirrored glass and poplar trees. It has been created for the stage by Es Devlin who designed the 2012 Olympics closing ceremony.

Jeremy Herrin, director of Headlong and the play, said: "It is a serious play and a provocative play but audiences find it incredibly satisfying."

source: Article 'Play about paedophilia in dystopian future set for West End transfer' by Louise Jury; www.standard.co.uk/news/london/play-about-paedophilia-in-dystopian-future-set-for-west-end-transfer-9800499.html; London Evening Standard; 17 October 2014