Extinction of the Learned Response

“Eyebrows up and in.
Lower lid contracted.
Upper lid raised.
Lip corners pulled sideways.
What is it?”

“Fear.”

“Good.”

In a spotless room, four people are having tea.

Duncan and Marlow are scientists. Rachel and Wells are their subjects, and they can almost pass for human now…

But Wells is growing stronger and Rachel is learning faster than predicted, and Duncan and Marlow’s hold on them – and on power – is proving more fragile than expected. Tensions are rising, tempers are fraying, and somewhere in the darkness, tenderness blossoms, and a carefully controlled experiment begins to twist into something far stranger, and far more obscure…

Brutal, bold and gripping, Extinction of the Learned Response asks what really makes us human. Can it be taught, replicated, removed? And once you take humanity away, what’s hiding underneath?

Creative Team

Presented By Glitterbomb Productions
Writer Emme Hoy
Director Carissa Liccardello
Set & Costume Designer Ella Butler
Sound Designer Ben Pierpoint
Lighting Designer Kelsey Lee
Producer Michelle Sverdloff
Production Manager/Assistant Stage Manager Jana Vass
Stage Manager Bronte Schuftan
Cast Tel Benjamin, Sarah Meacham, Eddie Orton, Jennifer Rani

Details

Programmed as part of Belvoir St Theatre’s 25A season.