Edinburgh play probes perception of memory
5 August 2011
Supported by an Arts Award from the Wellcome Trust, the show tells the story of Henry Molaison, who underwent experimental brain surgery in 1953 to cure him of the severe epilepsy he had suffered from since childhood. The surgery successfully abated his seizures but left him with severe memory impairment - he lost the last two years of his life, as well as the ability to form new long-term memories. He lived the rest of his life eternally trapped in the present.
In 2009, scientists dissected Patient HM’s brain in a procedure that was streamed live on the internet to a global audience of 400 000 people and fundamentally changed our understanding of memory. Henry's brain now exists in 2401 carefully preserved slices: manuscripts of tissue like the pages of a book, which tell the story of a man who could no longer remember but has proved impossible to forget.
Drawing upon collaborations with leading neuroscience experts - including the man who dissected HM's brain, Dr Jacopo Annese of the Brain Observatory in San Diego - 2401 Objects is a new show in trademark Analogue style, fusing contemporary technologies with ancient theatrical traditions to tell a story about how memory shapes our understanding of who we are.
Analogue is a South East-based company led by Artistic Directors Liam Jarvis and Hannah Barker and Producer Ric Watts. '2401 Objects' follows the success of their critically acclaimed 2009 show 'Beachy Head', also funded by a Wellcome Trust Arts Award.
'2401 Objects' was supported by the Wellcome Trust, Arts Council England and Royal Holloway University of London and is at Pleasance Beyond until 28 August.
2401 Objects
Pleasance Beyond, Edinburgh, EH8 9TJ
3-28 August (not 9, 16, 23), 16.40
Box office0131 556 6550
Image credit: Analogue productions.
