| Summary: | Robin French's play The Red Helicopter is an epic, futuristic drama about innocence, community and the dangerous power of unquestioning belief. The play was first performed by the Young Friends of the Almeida Lab at the Almeida Theatre, London, on 7 August 2010. It is published as part of the Nick Hern Books Multiplay Drama series featuring large-cast plays specifically written to be performed by and appeal to older teenagers and young adults. The play's action is set in 2072, on the third floor of a disused skyscraper in the east of London. Following a cataclysmic economic and social decline, the UK has been abandoned by its inhabitants in a mass exodus. London has become a ghost city, populated by the few who have remained. A group of twenty young people, aged between thirteen and sixteen, live in the skyscraper, surrounded by deep snow up the level of the third floor. At the top of the ruthless hierarchy is sixteen-year-old 'Daddy', who has taken control of the only Internet connection, promising that one day they will all be lifted to safety by a red helicopter. But then a stranger from the North arrives looking for a girl who disappeared from the group a year ago. The original production was directed by Tessa Walker, and performed by members of the company.
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