Terrific Electric Barbican, London
A world is grappling with a new invention set to change its reality forever... electricity. The Terrific Electric uses a theatre of moving images, absurd humour and vivid tableaux to evoke the shock and wonder of the dawning electrical era. An isolated household falls under the spell of a charismatic man of science who takes up residence to pursue his experiments. Through this surreal and fantastical world of innovation, this production investigated technology and our relationship with it across generations, from utopian visions of the future to mobile phones, cyberspace and the cutting edge of mechanised medicine. The production toured UK after sold out and award winning runs at Chichester Festival, the Royal Court and the West End. It subsequently transferred to Broadway. 

Winner of the prestigious Oxford Samuel Beckett Award for new voices in theatre, Sophie Hunter co-directed a creative team that took a laboratory approach to creation and performance and included a sculptor, a surgeon and a physicist. Drawing on historical and contextual research, feld interviews and the testimony of specialists, she sought to create powerful and beautiful, investigative theatre. 

The OSBTT Award is for emerging practitioners engaged in bold, innovative and challenging theatre.
“Experimental theatre at its multilayered best, beautifully stylised in form but equally compelling in the substance of its message... One of the strongest pieces of theatre I have seen this year” – British Theatre Guide