Donmar’s Privacy
Usually in theatre the stories are laid before us and the inferences are there for us to make. Flaws of character and behaviour lead to bad ends, but we can decide if this is a tale about us and ours, or if it is not. Not so with James Graham’s new play about internet privacy at the Donmar. This is a story about each of us and every effort is made to make us aware of this. The central tool to our involvement in Privacy is the smartphone which we are invited to use as part of the action.
And use it we did. Just as we do in every other setting. Some 20 million people in the UK log on to Facebook daily using a smartphone or tablet, and more than 70% of us own a smartphone. And in doing so, it seems, we are giving away massive amounts of information about ourselves. The play is a chilling demonstration of the width and depth of this information.
The structure of Privacy is straightforward. The writer of the play is talking to his psychoanalyst about the creation of the play and its challenges. Six actors appears as a variety of characters interviewed by the writer, who’s ideas are part of the the action. Edward Snowden is there, of course, as are William Hague, Paddy Ashdown, and Clive Humby who invented the Tesco Clubcard. The conversations give information and raise questions—what is privacy and what is secrecy? Is the perceived modern lack of concern about privacy any more pathological than an extreme need for privacy. Do people who have nothing to hide have anything to fear from lack of privacy? What, if any, aspects of people cannot be reduced to information?
But these issues are lightly raised and left to linger. The real impact of Privacy is the inescapable awareness of personal vulnerability. As the play progresses new dangers are highlighted until in the end there is nowhere in modern life that is secure. From the very obvious Facebook postings, to supermarket loyalty cards we are all enthusiastically generating information for whoever happens to be listening.
Until 31 May