I Always Walk Alone

New topical drama comes to Buxton Fringe

“We’re all born alone, and we all die alone”.

“I Always Walk Alone” is the debut play by actor and emerging playwright Luke van Coot and is premiering at the Buxton Festival Fringe this July! The show explores loneliness (from a male perspective) in the 21^st century and the measures a man takes to escape it using Artificial Intelligence.

Luke Van Coot, an experienced stand-up comedian who has previously toured the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, was motivated to write the play after using his own experiences of being single. Luke discovered that one in every six people are chronically lonely in the 21^st century. Technological change and social isolation have had a negative impact on adults in terms of forging lasting relationships since covid 19. Humans are predicted to become more disengaged from one another as Artificial Intelligence develops the capacity to provide emotional support to people.

I Always Walk Alone addresses the subject of loneliness by focusing on Richard Hock, a 40-year-old single man living in the year 2040. Richard has accepted that he will remain single indefinitely and decides to marry himself during a visit to The Individualism Centre. Throughout his time at this AI facility, Richard engages with an Officiator character (played by Chess Slattery) and through a series of challenges, confronts the life choices he has made.

I Always Walk Alone (directed by award winning director Rhonwen McCormack) balances the darker themes of social isolation with moments of dark humour to provide a balanced, poignant and highly entertaining piece of theatre! This story will be of special interest to anyone affected by social isolation but also anyone with an interest in Artificial Intelligence and Science Fiction. Anyone who purchases a ticket is very welcome.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to see some innovative, experimental theatre this July!

Where: Underground at the Working Men’s Club, 15 Lightwood Road Buxton, SK17 7BJ.

When: Wednesday 08^th + 09^th July 5:45pm and Monday 13^th July 7:30pm.