![Motsa__Z__Soyinka-Wole1868883299__Invention1-02-aspect-ratio-1249-1704](https://images.royalcourttheatre.com/uploads/2024/07/Motsa__Z__Soyinka-Wole1868883299__Invention1-02-aspect-ratio-1249-1704.png?fit=50%2C40)
Play Details
Context
Artistic Director
George Devine
Part Of
Sunday Night Productions Without Décor
Dates Performed
Sunday 1st November 1959
Main House (Downstairs)
Play Details
Synopsis
A dystopian laboratory in an unnamed country, following a catastrophic nuclear event that has altered human genetics.
In the aftermath of an “isoto-nuclear blast” that has made it impossible to distinguish between races, a group of scientists work frantically to develop a method of racial classification. Their efforts are overseen by a Director who is under pressure from international delegates to produce results. The arrival of an American envoy and a British representative heightens tensions as the scientists scramble to present their invention – a device purported to infallibly determine a person’s race.
Soyinka’s biting satire uses dark humour and absurdist elements to skewer the concepts of racial purity and scientific racism. Through the scientists’ increasingly outlandish theories and methods, Soyinka exposes the arbitrary nature of racial categorisation and the lengths to which those in power will go to maintain their supremacy.
Cast & Creative
Cast
Colin Blakely
Cast
Aleksander Browne
Cast
Graham Crowden
Cast
Ursula Franklin
Cast
Roy Hepworth
Cast
Barbara Hicks
Cast
Michael Hunt
Cast
Jeremy Longhurst
Cast
Bryan Pringle
Cast
David Ryder Olu Sowande
Cast
Jeanne Watts
Cast
Barry Wilsher
Cast