Holy Land

Holy Land a new play by Matthew Gouldesbrough. Shortlisted for The Royal Court Theatre’s Introductory Writer’s Group 2018. An extremely topical excavation of the dark side of the internet and human nature

This cutting edge and contemporary work is an intimate ‘three hander’ in which three stories of online escapism and revolt are interwoven. In their signature style, ELEGY fuses multi-media, vivid new writing and spoken word.

Tim, emerges from a backward town and childhood trauma. He creates a website, a dark mirror of YouTube, hosting videos that have no place elsewhere, justifying it as deeply human, somewhere the chaos of real life is laid bare and people can be made accountable for their actions. After all, he’s not responsible for the creation of the content - right?

Jon has just lost his daughter. Now he’s planning something terrible…to right the wrongs of life…to prove he’s in control of his fate…to prove his daughter’s death had to be chance…but is mass violence really the answer?

Kate is trying to get through the day.
She knows she’s gonna get out. She knows she’s gonna do great things.
Just as soon as she can find the money. Just as soon as she can shake off her mother…
but her boyfriend has just bought a webcam and has other ideas…darker ideas.

These connected stories intercut each other, playing with the narrative, whilst asking…
Who’s accountable for what happens? How little control do we have? How much of it can we take?