Another Paradise

Part of the Fringe’s much-anticipated InvAsian Festival, Another Paradise is a comedy of errors set in an Orwellian dystopia. Biometric Identity Cards are compulsory and the National Identity Computer holds information about even the most banal details of citizens’ lives. Yet the system is not infallible; frequent malfunction and fraud mean that identities can be irrevocably changed or even completely deleted. A black market in stolen identities is flourishing, and the only alternative for people who are not recognised by the system is being sent to Coventry – a state compound for the disenfranchised.

Sayan Kent’s script deals with the age-old question of state control versus civil liberties in a way that is refreshingly light-hearted. The play also comically demonstrates the hazards of our ever-increasing reliance on technology while, ironically, making impressive use of some hi-tech effects throughout. Occasionally, however, events become nonsensically farcical. And, whilst what starts out as two different storylines are seamlessly woven together at the end of the first half, the plot which ensues has a tendency towards the predictable.

The unrivalled highlight of the script is the character of Marcus Tomlin, played delightfully by Richard Rees, who is a corrupt government official and vehement supporter of “the system”, but who turns out to be hiding a secret about his own identity. Sadly, a couple of the other characters remain disappointingly one-dimensional. Indeed, several audience members left during the interval.

That said, Another Paradise is entertaining enough and provides a creative adjunct to the ongoing debate about compulsory ID cards in Britain.