Love & Will Productions and the Cockpit Theatre are to present the first full run of Daisy Campbell’s adaptation of Wilson’s seminal countercultural text Cosmic Trigger, playing at the Cockpit Theatre from the 4th May.
In 1976, playwright and director Ken Campbell staged Robert Anton Wilson’s, Illuminatus! – a nine-hour stage epic play that helped launch the careers of Jim Broadbent and Bill Nighy. It also led to the backstage conception of a baby girl: Daisy Eris Campbell.
Now, Daisy Campbell has adapted Wilson’s seminal countercultural text Cosmic Trigger for the stage. Part sequel, part revisit, part homage, part new writing; this is the story behind the notorious conspiracy satire, ‘Illuminatus!’, the extraordinary life of the novel’s author, Robert Anton Wilson, and the unstoppable force that was theatre legend Ken Campbell.
Talking about the production Campbell said: “Reading Cosmic Trigger changed my life and the lives of many others – and the book is dedicated to my dad! Wilson’s uniquely optimistic and radically agnostic philosophy is incredibly relevant in these crazy times. We are absolutely thrilled to be working with The Cockpit on this production. They are the perfect co-conspirators to help us bring the wit and wisdom of Robert Anton Wilson back to life”
Set in the late sixties and early seventies, the play recounts the period of Wilson’s life around the conception and writing of Illuminatus. During this time, he befriended heroes of counterculture, took LSD and experimented with the magical rituals of Aleister Crowley with predictably – and unpredictably – mind-blowing results.
The cast for the production will include: Oliver Senton, Kate Alderton, Josh Darcy , Jethro Skinner, Tom Baker, Lee Ravitz, Carrie Marx, Leigh Kelly, Alan Moore, Claudia Boulton and Dixie McDevitt.
Cosmic Trigger will play at the Cockpit Theatre from the 4th to the 27th May. For more information and to book tickets visit: http://thecockpit.org.uk/cosmictrigger.