Chris Thorpe and Jon Spooner Bring AM I DEAD YET? to Soho Theatre

Inspired by contemporary advances in resuscitation practice that has seen medical professionals bring people back to life up to six hours after their heart stops beating with no neurological damage or long-lasting impact, Unlimited co-founders and Jon Spooner and Chris Thorpe present a funny and moving look at the social, political and ethical implications of these extraordinary medical advancements. Created in collaboration with emergency care doctor and secretary of the Resuscitation Council UK Dr Andy Lockey, Am I Dead Yet? is filled with songs, stories and a live demonstration of CPR techniques to discuss death and how resuscitation changes the narrative.

Medical professionals are predicting that in the near future we'll be resuscitating patients many hours or even days after the heart stops beating. Death is increasingly understood as a process rather than a moment - a process that can be reversed with timely intervention.

Artistic Director and co-writer Jon Spooner says: "At a time when medical science is radically reimagining the definitions and understanding of death, we wanted to ask and answer some of the big, personal questions that naturally arise around dying - particularly as death is rarely talked about openly, clearly and honestly."

Unlimited Theatre was formed in Leeds in 1997. Am I Dead Yet? is part of an acclaimed series of creative projects that bring together arts and science, following The Ethics of Progress, a performance lecture about quantum physics, and The Noise, in which the company worked with neuroscientists to look at sound and memory and an award winning programme of work looking at space and human space flight presented under the banner The Unlimited Spacer Agency, whose patron is British astronaut Tim Peake. How I Hacked My Way Into Space, a one man show inspired by Tim Peake's mission to the International Space Station, has toured 10 outdoor festivals across the UK during summer 2017.

Jon Spooner is a director, writer, performer, founder member and the artistic director of Unlimited. He has directed and performed in numerous Unlimited shows, including Fringe First winners Static and Neutrino, Safety by Chris Thorpe (with Sheffield Theatre) and Zero Degrees & Drifting (nominated for Best Fringe Production in the MEN Theatre awards). Chris Thorpe is a founder member and a core artist with Unlimited, an Associate at The Royal Exchange and artistic associate of Third Angel. He is a solo performer, most recently of Fringe First Award winning show Confirmation, and his collaboration with Soup Collective on The Bomb On Mutannabbi Street Is Still Exploding has been permanently installed at the Imperial War Museum North. Work with Hannah Jane Walker includes Human Resources, The Oh Fuck Moment and I Wish I Was Lonely, and his recent collaboration with Rachel Bagshaw The Shape of the Pain was a Fringe First winner this year. Chris's latest play Victory Condition is currently running at The Royal Court, as part of the Jerwood New Playwrights Programme, directed by Vicky Featherstone.

Director Amy Hodge's credits include The Ethics of Progress for Unlimited Theatre, Our Big Land (Romany Theatre Company), The Rover (Hampton Court Palace) and Romeo and Juliet (Theatre Uz, Uzbekistan for the British Council). She was Associate Director at Sherman Cymru from 2008-2011, was Studio Associate at the National Theatre (2013-14) and was recipient of Jerwood directors award 2007. She is currently Creative Associate for Headlong.

For more information visit www.unlimited.org.uk or www.sohotheatre.com.

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