Mnemonic

The play begins with a lecture by the director, who encourages the audience to try to recall past memories. It then tells two parallel stories: in one, a man named Virgil tries to find his girlfriend; the other relates the discovery of Ötzi the Iceman, a 5,000-year-old mummified corpse.

Play title: Mnemonic

Author (s): Theatre de Complicite; Salzburger Festspiele

Publisher: Methuen Publishing Limited

Publication Date: 1999

Genre: Drama

Primary Discipline: Archaeology

Scientist (s):

Konrad Spindler, this is the main professor conducting research into the recently discovered ice-man.

Simonides of Ceos: creator of mnemonics

Source Texts: Unknown

Character Breakdown: 4men, 1 woman

Simon/Virgil, Alice, Spindler, Simonides, BBC Man

Setting: Various

Time Period: 1991

Synopsis of Play: The play begins with a lecture by the director, who encourages the audience to try to recall past memories. It then tells two parallel stories: in one, a man named Virgil tries to find his girlfriend, Alice, who has run away to Europe to hunt for her long-lost father; the other relates the discovery of Ötzi the Iceman, a 5,000-year-old mummified corpse. Through recurring images and situations the play draws parallels between these stories, focusing on the theme of the role of the imagination in recapturing the past.

First Performance Date: July, 1999

First Producer: Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield

Performance History: Royal National Theatre, London (2001 revival)

Bosnian National Theatre, Sarajevo (2002 revival)

Review Links:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/reviews/chi-review-mnemonic-red-tape-theatre-column.html

http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/mnemonic-rev

https://dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2017/03/21/review-mnemonic-theater-alliance/

https://variety.com/1999/film/reviews/mnemonic-1200459637/

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/jan/08/theatre.artsfeatures2

http://www.curtainup.com/mnemonic.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/29/theater/theater-review-into-the-loop-of-a-daisy-chain-of-memories.html