A Third Angel & Northern Stage Co-Production, The Department of Distractions is a conspiracy-theory, documentary-exposé and fast-paced four-hander detective story for the 21st century. Written by Alexander Kelly (Third Angel co-artistic director) with additional text by Stacey Sampson
A show about an organisation so clandestine you won’t have heard of them. Until now. The Department says its job is to plant stories in the world “to make life more interesting.” Others would argue that it’s as much about stopping us looking in certain directions: a single glove in the street, a torn up love letter in a Metro carriage, a pair of shoes hanging from a telephone wire or a phone box that rings as you walk past…
Created with the lightness of touch, dark humour and ferocity for detail that Third Angel has become renowned for, this ‘play within a play’ is full of clues – and red-herrings – that invite the audience to figure out what is going on – in the plot, and in the world around us. At a time when ‘fake news’ has become an all too familiar term, this show asks, what are we paying attention to, and who is trying to influence what we notice (and what we don’t)?
The show explores the ever elusive ‘Department’ just as things are beginning to unravel for the team, as a story they started has become out of control, and they’re in danger of being exposed. Unpicking the snags in the fabric of everyday life, The Department of Distractions may leave you with more questions than answers.
Alexander Kelly, Co-artistic Director of Third Angel, explains how the show explores some ongoing fascinations and obsessions of the company: “I’ve loved detective stories since I was a teenager – starting with both Raymond Chandler and Moonlighting. Several of our shows and projects have hinted at them, but this is the first time we’ve done a full-on detective story.
“We’ve been developing The Department of Distractions since 2014. In that time it has been fascinating, compelling and depressing to see some of the ideas it explores become more pressing.”
The Department of Distractions is on tour Wednesday 4 March – Thursday 2 April 2020. Tour details can be found here.
