5 Utopia
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Chris Megson
Abstract
The conspiracy thriller Utopia (Kudos), created and written by Dennis Kelly, was broadcast on Channel 4 in 2013–14 and won the International Emmy for Best Drama Series in 2014. Utopia speaks directly to widespread anxieties about global corporations, pandemics, corrupt elites, escalating surveillance, big pharma, overpopulation, and eco-catastrophe. Aside from its dizzying dramatic scope, the series is also renowned for its extraordinary – almost hallucinogenic – cinematography, its iconic visual design suffused with ‘irradiated’ primary colours, its disorientating soundscapes at once eclectic and unforgettable, its omnipresent violence, moments of sardonic humour, and unsettling moral ambiguity. Despite the series’ cancellation after just two seasons, Utopia attracted, and continues to attract, a voracious ‘underground’ fan following around the world. This chapter explores the dramatic and aesthetic valences of Utopia, bringing the series into dialogue with Kelly’s writing for theatre and with a broader selection of contemporary dystopic-themed television, film, and theatre. In so doing, it argues that Utopia exemplifies Kelly’s distinctive – and provocatively ‘unworthy’ – approach to political drama.
Abstract
The conspiracy thriller Utopia (Kudos), created and written by Dennis Kelly, was broadcast on Channel 4 in 2013–14 and won the International Emmy for Best Drama Series in 2014. Utopia speaks directly to widespread anxieties about global corporations, pandemics, corrupt elites, escalating surveillance, big pharma, overpopulation, and eco-catastrophe. Aside from its dizzying dramatic scope, the series is also renowned for its extraordinary – almost hallucinogenic – cinematography, its iconic visual design suffused with ‘irradiated’ primary colours, its disorientating soundscapes at once eclectic and unforgettable, its omnipresent violence, moments of sardonic humour, and unsettling moral ambiguity. Despite the series’ cancellation after just two seasons, Utopia attracted, and continues to attract, a voracious ‘underground’ fan following around the world. This chapter explores the dramatic and aesthetic valences of Utopia, bringing the series into dialogue with Kelly’s writing for theatre and with a broader selection of contemporary dystopic-themed television, film, and theatre. In so doing, it argues that Utopia exemplifies Kelly’s distinctive – and provocatively ‘unworthy’ – approach to political drama.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of illustrations vii
- Notes on contributors viii
- A foreword xii
- Introduction 1
- I Incubation 19
- 1 DNA in the classroom 21
- 2 Suspended in time and place 39
- 3 ‘I’ll teach you a thing or two’ 55
- II Antibodies 71
- 4 ‘Are you sick, yet? / Are you disgusted, yet?’ 73
- 5 Utopia 90
- 6 Beautiful doom 105
- 7 Subjectivity in Dennis Kelly’s early drama 118
- III False positives 135
- 8 ‘I just want it to be your words’ 137
- 9 ‘What is the difference between made up and real?’ 152
- 10 ‘What else isn’t true?’, or, Dennis Kelly’s expressionism 170
- 11 Atopia 184
- IV Variants 201
- 12 ‘Now look, are you going to tell me a story or not?’ 203
- 13 Dennis Kelly’s The Gods Weep at the Royal Shakespeare Company 217
- 14 Performing stories, engaging audiences 233
- Conclusion 251
- Index 264
- Plates 267
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of illustrations vii
- Notes on contributors viii
- A foreword xii
- Introduction 1
- I Incubation 19
- 1 DNA in the classroom 21
- 2 Suspended in time and place 39
- 3 ‘I’ll teach you a thing or two’ 55
- II Antibodies 71
- 4 ‘Are you sick, yet? / Are you disgusted, yet?’ 73
- 5 Utopia 90
- 6 Beautiful doom 105
- 7 Subjectivity in Dennis Kelly’s early drama 118
- III False positives 135
- 8 ‘I just want it to be your words’ 137
- 9 ‘What is the difference between made up and real?’ 152
- 10 ‘What else isn’t true?’, or, Dennis Kelly’s expressionism 170
- 11 Atopia 184
- IV Variants 201
- 12 ‘Now look, are you going to tell me a story or not?’ 203
- 13 Dennis Kelly’s The Gods Weep at the Royal Shakespeare Company 217
- 14 Performing stories, engaging audiences 233
- Conclusion 251
- Index 264
- Plates 267
