work.txt
work.txt is a play with no actors about the nature of work in the modern world. It is performed entirely by the audience through a combination of projected text instructions, live printed scripts performed by volunteers, and audience members being fed instructions through headphones.
It tells the story of a working-day in a city, and a worker who chooses to lie down in the middle of the office and just stop working. Funny and strange, it explores precarity, the gig economy, and so-called bullshit jobs, asking the question: where is the work happening in the play, if the actors aren’t present?
work.txt was first performed at VAULT Festival 2020, then debuted at the Soho Theatre Upstairs in 2022 before selling out at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that year, and has since toured nationally and internationally and has been translated into German and Italian.
"Brilliantly conceived and highly original” ★★★★★ The Scotsman
Recent Dates
Dublin, Ireland — Project Arts Centre, Dublin Fringe Festival — September 2023
Gronigen, The Netherlands — Noorderzon Festival — August 2023
Italy— Italian Tour — June 2023 - June 2025
Furth, Germany — Kulturforum, figuren.theater.festival — May 2023
Ancona, Italy — Teatro delle Muse — May 2023
Adelaide, Australia— Little Theatre, Electric Dreams Festival — February / March 2023
Mainz, Germany— Studiobühne U17, Staatstheater Mainz — October 2022
Edinburgh, UK— Summerhall, Edinburgh Fringe Festival — August 2022
Brighton, UK— Caravan Assembly, Brighton Festival — May 2022
Soho Theatre Upstairs, 28 Feb- 12 March 2022
Project credits:
Performed by the audience
Written and directed by Nathan Ellis
Produced by Emily Davis
Additional dates produced by Eve Allin
Technical Design by Harry Halliday
Lighting Design by Danny Vavrečka
Music and Sound by Tom Foskett-Barnes
Dramaturgy by Sam Ward, Ben Kulvichit
Additional Dramaturgy by Charlotte Fraser and Grace Venning
Production Photography: Alex Brenner
Show Image: Guy Sanders