The Last Masquerade
Details
Name: The Last Masquerade
My Role: Director / Writer / Sound Designer
Performed: 15th May 2023
Made For: University of York Drama Society (DramaSoc)
"The logical conclusion: I must be the center of the universe."
~ Teller
"In a dystopian version of Paris, an advanced artificial intelligence controls every aspect of society. With its flawless logic and efficiency, the machine has brought order and stability to the world, but at the cost of human creativity and freedom. In a small flat at the heart of the city, Lena, Marcus, and Ava are struggling to survive in a world without imagination. But when Ava brings home a painting, their lives, and the very story in which they exist, begin to collapse."
The Last Masquerade is a dystopian thriller set in a world where creative mediums - art, music, books, etc. - have been completely forbidden. Originally conceived as part of a thought experiment, the play aims to tackle questions around the rise of artificial intelligence, and asks just what is means for something to truly be deemed 'original'. To sell this point - the play has one big, final trick up its sleeve - but you'll have to watch the recording to know what that is!
I thoroughly enjoyed working with the incredible cast and crew to put this show together. With a runtime of just under an hour, the play offered the ability to tell a complete, but short-form story, packed full of the play's themes and a sprinkling (mountain) of existential dread.
Ever one to fully plan out my design concept before pitching a show, we opted to use a tri-colour scheme for every aspect of the show's visual design - where yellow represented the control of the ruling AI and the city of Paris, blue standing as the neutral, middle ground, and red symbolising death and the Quarante Trois art movement - a prominent faction within the world of The Last Masquerade. Visually vibrant, but ultimately dystopian and sickenly-looking, these design elements really helped to sell the play's atmosphere, whilst also communicating some of the key themes of the piece.
Being my second self-written play in 2023, it was nice to take a step back and work on something smaller-in-scale than behemoth, years-long projects like The Unspoken, and I had so much fun working with the cast and crew to bring this little dystopian world to life!
