Next Production
Wild Life
| by | Pamela Carter |
| director | Nicholas Bone |
| designers | Sans facon |
| lighting | Simon Wilkinson |
What makes us human? Generally, we have little reason to think about it, but many of the things that define us as human – language, self-awareness and imagination – have to be learned through contact with other humans. Wild Life, a new play by Pamela Carter and inspired by the events that inspired François Truffaut’s film L’Enfant Sauvage, explores what happens if we don’t get this vital contact.
Wild Life is inspired by the story of Victor, the so-called ‘wolf boy of Aveyron’. The original Victor was a boy about 12 years old found living wild in the south of France in 1800 who was the subject of an experiment to discover what makes humans different to animals; Wild Life re-imagines these events in the 21st century - Victor is the subject of a reality television show with every step of his progress towards civilisation captured on video and watched by millions. But the less savage he becomes, the more the ratings drop. Wild Life questions the nature of humanity, how we teach children and how we come to understand our place in the world. In a time when it is often felt that there is a crisis in the way we raise young men, this story helps us to confront our own prejudices and assumptions about what represents civilised behaviour. Wild Life is about the struggle between instinct and reason and how both play an important part in our lives.
With designs by international visual artists Sans façon (designers of Magnetic North’s acclaimed Walden) and lighting by the award-winning Simon Wilkinson, Wild Life will be a visual treat that mixes Victorian freak-shows with fly-on-wall documentaries to stunning effect.
Wild Life will open at Cumbernauld Theatre in February 2011 before touring.
You can follow the development of the production by signing up to Open Source
WILD LIFE is a co-production with Cumbernauld Theatre
