Utopia

The first English Utopia within a nation state was Thomas More’s book of 1510, which took Plato’s idea as its title and is probably the best known reference for the word. More’s bookis the story of a young seaman named Raphael who is keen on adventure and exploration. Raphael discovers the Island of Utopia while travelling with Amerigo Vespucci beyond the Americas. There, on a small Island, a truly benevolent society has been founded and run by King Utopos. The island of Utopia was once a Peninsula, but King Utopos wisely dug a channel through the peninsula and therefore isolated the island away from troublesome neighbours. It’s not hard to see that More might have had England and France in mind…

The island is an amazing microcosm of different political and cultural ideas, some of which unwittingly mimic state socialism. The island allows no private ownership and all citizens are obliged to dress the same. However slavery is a common reality, two slaves per house in fact. Overcrowding is combated by constant relocations of families and communities, meaning all citizens are virtually devoid of personal freedoms. However every position of influence is elected, from Stewards right up to the Prince himself. There are four main religions, which all tolerate one another, however atheists are despised and seen to be a great threat to the state. Priests may marry, but premarital sex is forbidden…good luck trying to spot any continuity.

It’s hard to decide whether More’s book was satire, ambitious fiction or intellectual exercise. It seems that More intended people to believe in the idea, either as an aspiration or a reality, as the plausibility of the island of Utopia is suggested throughout the book - (though handily someone coughed when the longitude and latitude of the island was mentioned. However the gulf between the real world of 1510 and the imagined paradise of Utopia is so large that More cannot help but smirk throughout the book. From the outset scepticism is Utopia’s twin. The failures of human society even in 1510 mean that even Thomas More’s Utopia is instinctively tongue in cheek.

Nationalistic dreams of Utopia have driven politicians on to great and gruesome things for centuries. Arguably national utopias are the most damaging of any utopian vision. It’s easy to see why, Utopia is a fanatic idea whose benefits are so great that they legitimise atrocity; Utopia becomes the ultimate end which justifies despicable means. It’s a pattern that was as prevalent in Hitler’s Germany as it was in Lenin’s Russia.

Like most things, Utopia is predictably traced back to ancient Greece, and most particularly to eminent wise man Plato. In The Republic, which deals with everything from art to greek politics, the character of Socrates to an analysis of democracy, Plato talks about a society divided up into class and ruled by ‘philosopher-kings’, where the power of the state is linked to the intellectual life of the state’s best and brightest. (It’s also worth remembering that this conclusion was reached by a group of philosophers, who were at that time clearly not kings). Unable to rely on the complete benevolence of the gods, the Greek’s instead based their Utopia on sturdy Greek rationalism for their Utopia. Class divides were also inherent to the Greek idea, with the upper class leading the lower and those Philosopher Kings dividing their wisdom among the masses. Interestingly, despite what you might think about the violently disposed Greeks, Plato’s utopia was pacifist, though it ingeniously devised a system whereby mercenaries from other countries would be drafted in to fight their own wars. Therefore as these mercenaries were killed nearby countries would become more peaceful, whereupon peace would reign internationally. What Plato’s idea first gave the western world is the simple question of doubt – What could we have done? What would it have been like if? What are we aiming for? All utopias spring from disaffection, they are dreams based on dissatisfaction with reality, and more often than not they look forward to a new beginning, where they don’t or can’t look forward they imagine a different present that was built from a different past. Throughout the ages approaches to these utopias have changed again and again, from attainable goals to ambitions based on science fiction, eugenics, social manifestos, exploration, conflict, world peace and much much more. What links them is the fact that Utopias are always reformations, either as fictions or as ambitions for reality. As well as other things I’ll be blogging the history of the three main types of Utopia that have emerged since Plato’s original idea; Religious Utopias, Nation-State Utopias, Dream Utopias. From the Bible to Karl Marx and from Billy Graham to Aldous Huxley, writers and visionaries have created their own varied and fascinating reformations. The idea is to post here a summary of their thoughts and an insight into the questions they raise.

This summer, Soho Theatre presents a brand new selection of short plays from a mixture of emerging and established writers, around the theme of Utopia.
To accompany this exciting collection of plays, Soho Theatre are looking for 6 young artists to join the project with accompanying visual art works around the same theme.

Who can take part?

Any young artist under 26 living, working or studying in the London area.

What do we need from you?

We need a piece of your original work that you think best represents UTOPIA. It must be a piece that is suitable for hanging in our bar/foyer area and that you wouldn’t mind loaning to Soho Theatre between May and July 2012.

What’s in it for you?

Your work will hang in our busy theatre before and during the run of UTOPIA, one of the flagship shows during our 2012 season. We will be including information about the artwork and the artists around the building, and your work will be seen by audiences, the press and lots of influential people during that time. You’ll also be taking part in a very exciting project which we hope will ignite debate and discussion about society and the future of humanity.

How can I take part?

You need to send a hi-res image of the artwork you’d like to enter, 100 words about the piece and a short biography of yourself, along with your contact information to utopia@sohotheatre.com by16 April 2012.

For full terms and conditions click here.

So over the next few weeks we’re going to be adding lots of posts to this blog, covering everything from different interpretations of Utopia in art, literature and theatre, to news and information about how our production of UTOPIA at Soho Theatre is shaping up!

Don’t forget, tickets for UTOPIA are already on sale!

Enough of the dystopian visions, austerity measures and extreme renditions. UTOPIA is a night of humanity at its best, looking at a different vision of our future, a vision of humankind being both human and kind.

Just look at what we could have won…

Soho Theatre and Live Theatre collaborate on the ambitious new writing project – UTOPIA; directed by Artistic Directors Steve Marmion and Max Roberts who will commission writers to create new short plays challenging visions of our future.