Marlie Haco on directing Good Day for VAULT Festival.
Good Day, written by Daniel Bainbridge and Cam Scriven, has an intriguing question at its centre: if we could become immortal and remain youthful, would it be as good as it might at first sound? It’s a fascinating concept which could be explored in many ways – so we sat down with director Marlie Haco, whose theatre company Double Telling is taking on the task of engaging with this question on stage.
We have to start by saying Good Day looks like something out of Charlie Brookers’ Black Mirror, would that be a fair assessment on the play?
Black Mirror will no doubt spring to mind for many audience members – several of the show’s plotlines have even to some extent come to pass in reality since they aired – however, I think Good Day ultimately has a more uplifting message than many Black Mirror episodes. To me, the series always felt like a condemnation of the many risks posed by AI, while Good Day doesn’t seek to come down too firmly on one side or the other. I hope, in staging the play, to hold open as many meanings and interpretations as possible, allowing space to explore how technology is a positive and negative force for the characters – it is both what drives Zara to want to end her life and what reignites her capacity to go on living.
What was it that made you want to be a part of this particular story then?
As you’ve already suggested, the theme of technology has been tackled extensively in TV, but less so in theatre, so I was excited by the challenge of using live performance – where we can incorporate elements like movement, original music, and video – to explore the impact of AI on humanity.
I’m interested in how the play exploits a therapeutic relationship to present a compelling conflict between the life force and the death drive in a futuristic setting. I was drawn to how the play blends the light and the dark in its exploration of important contemporary issues such as suicidality and euthanasia.
And what else can you tell us about it, from which direction is the play tackling the topic of immortality?
Good Day focuses on a woman who wants to die in a world where immortality is the norm, and looks at how her life is changed by the bond she forms with an android who, by contrast, wants to be alive. The play uses the protagonists’ relationships to question the extent to which we can still find meaning and connection in our lives when our time is infinite and asks whether this is enough to keep us alive forever.
It’s set in a futurist and perfect world; no poverty, no war. How does this dictate how you direct such a play, what do you have to do to create such a landscape?
In trying to establish the rules of the world, I’ve explored with the actors how this seemingly perfect setting brings its own set of problems and may ultimately lead to a world devoid of meaning and purpose; without social and financial pressures, what drives people to work, succeed, or create? If everything is provided by technology, what place do humans have in this world?
Like with any other setting, we must all become really clear about what that this world looks and feels like – we’ve spent time drawing facts from the text, making imaginative responses to questions the text leaves unanswered, and creating maps of the spaces that the characters inhabit. We’ve also used movement work to develop a physical language for how they interact with their surroundings.
I’m keen to use all the design elements to hint at the dystopian underbelly of the utopian landscape, presenting technology as an omnipresent force in this world.
We recently saw Annie Davison, who will play Zara, the woman who wants to die, in Anything With A Pulse, where we said she had “instant chemistry that makes their encounter fast-paced and zesty”, was this what you saw in auditions to make you cast her to this role?
I also saw Annie in Anything With A Pulse – I was struck by the energy and charisma she had on stage and was excited by how this might be turned to a very different role.
You’re bringing the show to VAULT Festival in March, is it easy to recreate that perfect world in the Vaults’ damp chilly caverns?
We have an easier task than we might as we are performing in the Network Theatre, which is a more traditional black box space. Nevertheless, my vision has always been to use the design to suggest the simultaneously utopian and dystopian setting of the play by creating the impression that the audience are looking through a portal into this glossy, ‘perfect’ world that is both alluring and disconcerting – a place you’d love to spend a day, but not eternity. This is partly where the idea to use video came from, a way to immerse the audience in a hyper-digital reality. I’m always interested in how we can both exploit and push against the possibilities that a physical theatre space is offering us.
Whilst clearly tackling a very serious topic, it promises some dark humour, is this easy to bring out of the script whilst still ensuring you don’t distract from the main talking points of the play?
Something I love about the play is how comedy and tragedy lie so closely together and in directing the production, I want to find ways to hold both simultaneously. I prefer to avoid encouraging an actor to ‘play a line for laughs’, but rather to allow the comedy to come from the situation or predicament the character is in. I am very lucky to be working with actors who very naturally draw out the potential for comedy in the lines.
Ultimately, however, I’m interested in the human story at the heart of the play and ensuring that our audiences can connect with these characters – but if they find them funny too, that’s great!
And we can’t not end by asking you, if you could have this magic chip implanted to allow you to live forever, would you jump at the chance, or has this play given you second thoughts about how it might not be as wonderful as it first seems?
Without giving too much away, I feel the play is essentially a love letter to our mortality and therefore I’d definitely think twice before opting for a chip that would remove the very thing that makes us human.
Massive thanks to Marlie for taking time out of their mortal life to chat to us. Good Day will play at Network Theatre as part of VAULT Festival 2023 between 7 and 12 March. Further information and bookings can be found here.
