No longer booking
  • Venue Hampstead Theatre, London
  • Performance dates Booking to 14 October 2023
  • Running time To be confirmed
  • Age guidelines 14+

Hampstead Theatre present the world premiere of anthropology.

A grieving sister brings her sibling back to life with AI, in this dramatic new play by San Francisco-based Lauren Gunderson.

Lauren Gunderson is one of the world’s most produced playwrights; her I and You was a huge success at Hampstead in 2018.  Author of over 20 plays, Lauren has also received the Lanford Wilson Award at the Dramatists Guild Awards and two Steinberg/ATCA New Play Awards.  She also wrote the book for new West End musical The Time Traveller’s Wife.

anthropology is the twelfth play that Anna Ledwich has directed for Hampstead, where her work has ranged from Labyrinth to the Olivier nominated productions of Dry Powder and Four Minutes Twelve Seconds.

anthropology runs from 7 Sep 2023 until 14 Oct 2023 at Hampstead Theatre, London.

“I built you because this is what I do. It’s my job. These are my tools, I used them, and honestly it’s not that hard – you’re basically a chatbot.”

Merril is one of Silicon Valley’s leading software engineers, but her life disintegrates when her younger sister Angie vanishes on her way home from college. A year later, when the police have long abandoned their search, Merril assembles all the digital material Angie has left behind and sets about building herself a digital simulation of her sister. The resultant ‘virtual Angie’ offers her some solace – until, that is, it starts to reveal new details about the real Angie’s disappearance…

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Performance Information

Check booking calendar for full details


Stars and Creatives

Who is in the cast of anthropology?

The cast stars MyAnna Buring (Twilight: Breaking Dawn; The Witcher; Downton Abbey; Ripper Street), Dakota Blue Richards (The Golden Compass; Skins), Yolanda Kettle (Patriots, Almeida; Deep Blue Sea, National Theatre) and Abigail Thaw (Endeavour and The Strange Death of John Doe, Hampstead Theatre).

Who are the creative team of anthropology?

Written by Lauren Gunderson. Directed by Anna Ledwich.

The creative team includes designer, Georgia Lowe; lighting designer James Whiteside; sound designer Max Pappenheim and video designer Daniel Denton.


Important Notes

Content Warnings – strong language

Captioned performance 10th October, 19:30 & post show discussion

Audio Described matinee 14th October, 14:30

Venue Information

Hampstead Theatre , Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London, NW3 3EU

Nearest Tube or Train: Swiss Cottage (Jubilee Line)

Nearest Buses: C11, 13, 31, 46, 82, 113, 187, 268

Directions

Google Apple

Critics' reviews of anthropology

"No chatbot could surely ever write anything as original and compelling" - Guardian

"Twilight Zone-style AI drama is polished, pacey but at times absurd" - Evening Standard


Frequently Asked Questions

anthropology is playing at the Hampstead Theatre in London
The age recommendations for anthropology are: 14+
Yes, anthropology has matinee performances on the following days: Thursday, Saturday
No, sorry, anthropology has now completed its run and is no longer on sale.