About The MEMORY DEALER
The Memory Dealer is a play that takes place in several places around the centre. You will need a smart phone to experience it. If you don't own one, you can borrow one from us when you order. It is a form of interactive theatre and you will become part of the story.
You are going to the cinema with Eve Rust, an old friend. She’s just made contact again. You always got on so well but then she got involved in the whole memory thing and you lost contact. Mobile phones can record memories and replay them directly into your brain so vividly that it is like experiencing it again. Memory exchange is illegal and there’s an underground sub-culture of memory use. Eve became famous as a campaigner for the controlled use of memory exchange and keeping memories free from corporate ownership. When the government announced legalisation and the sale of the licence to a single corporation, Mevokia, her campaign group, the XM, was made illegal. Eve went from being the darling of Newsnight to outlaw over night. Last you heard, she was on the run from the Digital Investigations Command. Maybe it’s all been resolved now. You’re looking forward to seeing her again.
About Rik Lander
Rik Lander has made a series of interactive dramas including one of the UK’s first web dramas, magic-tree, 2001. In 2006 he was show-runner on the BBC’s first interactive soap, Wannabes. He has also built a series of installations that involve the viewer in a narrative, including Trial by Media, 1989 and Room 11 (this can’t be the place) set in a hotel in 2006. In the 1980’s he was half of the influential video art partnership, the Duvet Brothers, their scratch videos are still regularly screened, including recent showings at the V&A and Tate Modern. As a day job Rik sometimes directs TV commercials.
FAQ
Will I have to perform?
The story will unfold around you. You will be told to go to places. You will meet some people. You will be part of the story but the aim is not to make you perform or to embarrass you.
What if it all gets too much?
It’s an immersive narrative and much of it comes through your headphones. If it all gets too much, just remove the headphones and take a few breaths before you put them back on and re-enter the story.
Why am I being asked to take part in audience research?
The play has been developed by staging it, then modifying it after audience research. Researchers from the Department of Culture, Film and Media and the Department of Music at Nottingham University are undertaking research into several aspects of pervasive drama. By answering their questions you help develop the piece and further their research into how the use of mobile technology changes the way audiences experience drama.
