Exploration of VR therapy to heal emotional wounds – A theatre play

‘Ugly Lies the Bone’ is a play that discusses technical innovation and uses it to explore the harrowing pressures in reality that might make us want to escape it. In the UK premiere of Lindsey Ferrentino’s play, a war veteran Jess returns home from a tour of duty in Afghanistan faces her demons in virtual reality rehab.

The play includes a hi-tech production with a stage which becomes a giant screen each time Jess uses her VR goggles and goes through her therapy session for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

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In the opening scene of Ugly Lies the Bone, Jess is alone on stage with a walking aid. A disembodied voice instructs her to “open your eyes” and guides her into a virtual reality world that aims to alleviate her pain.

Instructed by the voice in her headset , she creates a VR world that allows her to escape the pain and her restrictive body.

The play offers an honest and thought provoking exploration of VR techniques to lessen the physical and psychological toll of reconstruction and raises questions about how we can help rehabilitation not only in the fantasy realm but in the real world too. This is a great play for those who are interested in how technical innovations can affect our interpretations of reality and illusion.

The play is currently on show at the National Theatre until the 6th of June 2017 . For more info and tickets https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/ugly-lies-the-bone