Distant Memories of the Near Future

A likeable narrator takes us through a series of five vignettes, in turns comical and sombre, about love and artificial intelligence in a not-so-distant future.

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This story begins with a question. It’s okay, isn’t it, to not want to be… alone?

David Head's Distant Memories of the Near Future is a piece of multimedia storytelling-theatre, gently weaving together five different narratives: an isolated tech mogul trying to turn love into an algorithm, a jaded consumer confronting their loneliness, an astronaut trapped in the cosmos, a creator torn between competing needs and an AI exploring its newly gained sentience.

Through these tales the play explores relationships: with technology, with creativity, and with ourselves.

Equal parts funny, disquieting and lyrical — it’s both a cynical look at consumerism and the commodification of our emotions, and a moving testament to optimism, humanity and our interconnected existence.

Developed at the Rosemary Branch Theatre, the play debuted at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2023 at Summerhall, and was a finalist for the 2024 Off West End Award for Best New Writing from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This edition was published to coincide with the transfer to London's Arcola Theatre in November 2024.