Can’t think of theatre as a limited form. It’s got the same possibilities and presence of limitation as any other medium. Comparing theatre to film has resulted in some makers of theatre thinking that theatre can’t achieve what film can – can’t match its scope, can’t be as visual, can’t depict the fantastic as well.
The problem to solve is how to create a depiction of the ideas for the future, real in a way, without any of the CGI/SE palette that film has… and without having to EXPLAIN them… those are the limitations, and so within those strictures, i’ve come up with a whole bunch of strategies, some borrowed from avant/garde, some invented.
In truth, it’s film that’s limited. The great CGI effect that looks so cool today will be passe in 5 years. Whereas the theatre’s use of special effects, lo-tech and relying on the human imagination… why, those will remain cool, possibly forever.
So achieving, for example, a play with scientfic imagery that takes on an almost mystical set of properties can actually be done better in the theatre – where the special effects that lie in the mind can never go out of date.
So for example, rolled up pieces of paper appear in her mouth with messages to her written on them – her genes were reprogrammed to create the paper, ink and actually write the messages (deposit the ink in a predetermined pattern on the paper). Objects and tools are imbued with intelligence, have ideas, opinons and strong feelings about how well we use them.