The Nether

Review This is mind-bending, it's ingenious and it's ethically challenging... A knotty, important and thought-provoking disputation about virtual reality and moral policing... Structured quite brilliantly, like a hall of mirrors. -- Kate Bassett ― The Times [A] deeply disturbing and very responsibly provocative play... Shaped, poetic restraint and eloquent economy. ― Independent Disturbing... and dramatically satisfying... The internet has undoubtedly changed us as a species, and The Nether asks big questions about how we go forward. -- Andrzej Lukowski ― Time Out A thought-provoking, deeply disconcerting success. It is a piece that taps into one of the most urgent and disturbing issues of our times... This is a haunting and highly original modern fairy-tale that combines creepy enchantment with a whiff of sulphur." -- Charles Spencer ― Daily Telegraph This is a compelling, profoundly disturbing 80 minutes of theatre... At the play's end, the world - both real and virtual - simply doesn't look quite the same. -- Laura Barnett ― Observer Haley's play at first challenges us to think the unthinkable, then almost seduces us into it. It is the very best kind of uncomfortable viewing. -- Ian Shuttleworth ― Financial Times Product Description I've read the studies. No one has been able to draw a conclusive correlation between virtual behaviour and behaviour in-world. The Nether is a virtual wonderland that provides total sensory immersion. Just log in, choose an identity and indulge your every desire. But when a young detective uncovers a disturbing brand of entertainment, she triggers an interrogation into the darkest corners of the imagination. Winner of the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, The Nether is both a serpentine crime drama and haunting sci-fi thriller that explores the consequences of living out our private dreams. Jennifer Haley's The Nether received its UK premiere in July 2014 at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in a co-production with Headlong. Book Description The Nether by Jennifer Haley, winner of the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, is both a serpentine crime drama and a haunting sci-fi thriller.