Try GOLD - Free

Theatre review An exasperating foray into the internet's 'arkive'

The Guardian

|

June 13, 2025

The disused warehouse given over to this immersive production was once a storehouse for newspapers (Rupert Murdoch's, in fact). So it is well suited to the show's central concern, the archiving of words, though the fictive "arkive" stored here is for every single digital expression since the inception of the internet in 1983.

- Arifa Akbar

Theatre review An exasperating foray into the internet's 'arkive'

It is impressively gargantuan, with rooms as big as aeroplane hangars. Within them are tight tunnels made of wicker or white padded material, the latter reminiscent of Punchdrunk's Viola's Room.

Conceived by Liana Patarkatsishvili and produced by Sage & Jester, Storehouse is grand in ambition and immaculately conceived in design, with an intricately created lexicon, too.

The backstory is that a now dead company boss came up with a global project to record every online message, meme and utterance in the hope of building the formation of a greater truth - a "Truthtopia" - in the world above this alternative underground realm.

Except that this archiving process, named "the great aggregation", has missed its deadline for the revelation of truth.

MORE STORIES FROM The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian

Rock me Amadeus, all over again: can TV series inspire a new generation to love Mozart?

Forty years ago, Amadeus won eight Oscars, four Baftas and four Golden Globes - and introduced a new generation to 18th-century music.

time to read

3 mins

December 13, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Doctors' strike during flu crisis 'beyond belief' - PM

Keir Starmer has said it is \"frankly beyond belief\" that resident doctors would strike during the NHS's worst moment since the pandemic, in remarks that risk inflaming tensions with medics.

time to read

4 mins

December 13, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

'We've made progress' But 10 years on from the Paris agreement, is it enough?

Ten years on from the Paris climate summit, which ended with the world's first and only global agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, it is easy to dwell on its failures. But the successes go less remarked.

time to read

6 mins

December 13, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Paint it orange! The charity turning anger into hope - and quick action

Dashing through the snow with Father Chris... It doesn't get any more seasonal, even if it feels as if there might be a final syllable missing.

time to read

4 mins

December 13, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

President takes star role in battle for Warner Bros businesses

Over the first 10 months of his second presidency, Donald Trump has not hidden his desire to control the US media industry - from encouraging TV networks to fire journalists, comedians and critics he dislikes to pushing regulators to revoke broadcast licences. Now he seems determined to set the terms for one of the biggest media deals in history.

time to read

6 mins

December 13, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Swift's pain over Southport knife attack is palpable

Swifties had long guessed that there would be a documentary going on behind the scenes of the blockbuster Eras tour.

time to read

1 mins

December 13, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Recognition for writer and pioneer

'The thing all women hate is to be thought dull,\" says the title character of Sylvia Townsend Warner's Lolly Willowes, an early feminist classic about a middle-aged woman who moves to the countryside, sells her soul to the devil and becomes a witch.

time to read

2 mins

December 13, 2025

The Guardian

Machado feared US strike on escape boat as she fled

The most dangerous moments came when salvation seemed finally assured. Many miles from land, the small fishing skiff carrying the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate María Corina Machado had been lost at sea, tossed by strong winds and 10ft waves. A further hazard was the ever-present risk of an inadvertent airstrike by US warplanes hunting alleged cocaine smugglers.

time to read

2 mins

December 13, 2025

The Guardian

The Guardian

Police warn drivers of risks when handing over keys

Terence Baxter* had booked a meet-and-greet service to park his Volkswagen at Heathrow airport while he and his wife went on holiday.

time to read

2 mins

December 13, 2025

The Guardian

Card Factory delivers surprise pre-Christmas profit warning

Card Factory has delivered an unwelcome early Christmas surprise for investors by issuing a shock profit warning during its peak trading period, which sent shares plunging by more than a fifth.

time to read

1 min

December 13, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size