The Future of the Past: A Rehearsed Reading of Lapsare

Join us for a rehearsed reading of Lapsare, a new short play by playwright Cloud McDowell, followed by a conversation with Cloud about her residency at the Society, research, and creative process.

Written during a residency at the Society of Antiquaries of London, Lapsare is a new short play by playwright Cloud McDowell. Set within Burlington House, the play imagines a speculative near-future in which the Society’s historic home is transformed into luxury apartments, as a team of specialists work to repurpose a site once dedicated to knowledge, research, and cultural stewardship. Through this imagined future, Lapsare explores the fragility of cultural institutions and the enduring value of memory, heritage, and knowledge.

Influenced by the ideas and ethics of former Fellow William Morris, the play reflects on what happens when an institution dedicated to the stewardship of our material heritage is subsumed by the forces of capital, and what this reveals about the values of a society more broadly. Drawing on the Society’s collections, history, and surroundings, Lapsare considers the relationship between preserving the past and the pressures of the present, asking what responsibilities we hold towards the spaces, stories, and legacies we inherit as we move towards an uncertain future.