A Dead Body in Taos

A Dead Body in Taos by David Farr (known among other things for writing The Night Manager for the BBC) was co-commissioned, produced and originally toured by the independent theatre production company, Fuel Theatre in 2022.

The play begins with 33-year-old Sam arriving in Taos, New Mexico to identify the dead body of her estranged mother, Kath Horvath. It transpires that Kath has been colluding with the Future Life Corporation to prolong her existence beyond the natural span of her life to become immortal as a cyborg. The play juxtaposes Sam's contestation of Kath's decision to bequeath her money to the Corporation and to continue her life ‘virtually’ with key historical moments in Kath's life as a younger woman within counter cultural movements of the 1960s and 70s. These involve her life as an organiser of the student Vietnam protests at Kent State University in 1970, which famously resulted in the shootings of unarmed students; her attendance at a Californian commune; and life as a singer with a punk band in London, 1977 before making her fortune as an advertising designer in 1980s London.