When Prophecy Fails
“A true multimedia production…an extraordinary telling of a peculiar story, plucked from obscurity to exist for its short, striking time upon the stage. “ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - Rebecca mahar, all edinburgh theatre
conceived and created by groupwork
Step into a world of apocalyptic visions, clandestine observers and the faithful disciples of a suburban housewife. Award-winning ensemble Groupwork present a daring new piece of physical theatre, based on a 1954 study outlining a groundbreaking theory of human behaviour now known as “cognitive dissonance”. When Prophecy Fails reimagines the events surrounding history’s very first UFO doomsday cult who, convinced of an impending apocalypse, prepare themselves for salvation via flying saucer. Inevitably, though, the group face a reality which conflicts with their faith, and in turn demonstrate the profound crisis that follows the shattering of a belief.
"Scotland’s young, state-of-art Groupwork, whose impressionistic fusion of dance, theatre & audio-visual cut-ups, makes for a mesmerising seventy-minute trip. " ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - neil cooper, The Herald
"Utterly gripping … total theatre" ★ ★ ★ ★ - joyce mcmillan, The Scotsman.
cast grace gibson, amy kennedy, hope kennedy, samuel pashby, dylan read
direction vicki manderson, finn den hertog
choreography vicki manderson
text lewis den hertog
dramaturgy finn den hertog
video lewis den hertog
music & sound lewis den hertog
design camilla clarke
lighting benny goodman
stage managers sophie cooper, thomas o’hear
producer sarah jane murray
production manager courtland evje
public relations joy parkinson
developed with the support of creative scotland and national theatre of scotland
production photographs by mihaela bodlovic.
