
Great Apes
4.5 (4) · New Writing, Contemporary
“I want my life back now. Feel human again. Homo erectus.”
Overview
When Turner Prize-winning artist Simon Dykes wakes up one morning after a wild night out, he finds his world has changed beyond recognition. His girlfriend, Sarah, has turned into a chimpanzee. And to his horror, so has everyone else. Immediately rushed to hospital, Simon is taken into the care of charismatic radical psychiatrist Zack Busner and treated for being under the psychotic delusion that he’s human.
Great Apes is Will Self’s hilarious, disturbing and dazzlingly original take on man’s place in the evolutionary chain.
This raucous new stage adaptation from Patrick Marmion (The Divided Laing) mixes razor-sharp language with movement and puppetry, journeying into the mystery of what it means to be a human being.
Critic reviews
The production makes us reflect on our own humanity and our social customs
Fun but superficial...
This inventive adaptation of the novel set in an ape-dominated world pokes fun at human assumptions of evolution.
Intelligent adaptation of Will Self’s satirical, chimpanzee-filled thought experiment
Skilful adaptation