My out-of-this-world experience on Saturday night came courtesy of the fertile imagination of writer Ryan Simons, creator and director of The Void sci fi horror story set in the year 2160.
As we theatregoers took our seats, we were faced with a darkened stage setting that bore no resemblance to planet Earth – all bare metal, wood, leather with a central huge “porthole” giving us a tantalising glimpse of outer space, eight million miles from our blue planet.
One man sat by this window to other worlds, answering and asking questions of Nova (voiced by Olwen May), an all-seeing AI.
Dressed in loose-fitting beige coloured overalls, the one-eyed man, Flint, a disillusioned space ranger, sounded bored with his lot, until a distress call comes through regarding ageing space research vessel, The Odyssey.
Programmed to be unflinchingly loyal to the IAC, a powerful corporation, Flint (Alex Moran) boards the stricken space ship only for him to get caught up in mind-blowing events that left him (and us) wondering what was real and what was all in his mind.
The poor chap had already had an eye removed by the powers-that-be, as part of their mind control programme, so he was right to be wary.
Halfway through plugging himself into a reboot, with dire threats from Nova not to interrupt the programme until it’s finished, a figure emerges from the darkness and literally pulls the plug, showering both with sparks.
The newcomer, dressed in navy overalls, is Blair (Ryan Simons), a biological scientist, who, as an “independent” is an enemy of the IAC, but who knows how to make the antidote to the deadly virus that has more or less wiped out the crew of The Odyssey – a ship now only three hours away from destruction (according to Nova).
Both men are suspicious of each other’s motives and it’s the underdog Blair who, more than once, is physically assaulted by Flint, his superior, socially.
Crew members affected by the virus regularly appear on the huge porthole screen. Some are trapped in quarantine, with others appearing eyeless, showing gauged-out, bloodied orbs, courtesy of the effects of the virus.
Blair persuades Flint to travel through the spaceship to retrieve ingredients needed for him to create more antidote. But does his – their – mission succeed?
The Void is enacted on a stage setting more in keeping with a much bigger, more expensive production. The props are, purposefully, grey and unexciting, but the amazing, huge window, overlit by strip lighting, is where all the colourful action is.
Special effects abound, including Flint actually seeming to float in space, thanks to a collaboration with magic double act Jay & Joss of Fine Entertainments, the team behind magic consultancy on Britain’s Got Talent and winners of the Magic Circle Champions of Stage Illusion 2024 award.
The tension never eases and I found myself more than once bracing for something to happen, even, scaredy cat that I am, closing my eyes at specific moments.
Thunder Road Theatre, a small company formed in 2011 by Alex Moran, made sure this production, first of all entertained, but also gave us in the audience something to ponder on at the show’s end, especially now AI is encroaching more and more into life in 2025.
The Void, acted in and produced by Moran, left us in no doubt how the human race can be controlled by propaganda, mind control, psychological isolation, trauma, surveillance and fear.
And the massive twist at the end not only explained everything, but revealed who, or what, was really calling the shots.
Both Moran and Simons, as our two protagonists, never faltered in their mission to bring The Void to life. Clever writing from Simons made what could have been a complex story, easy to understand.
With loud, clear diction at all times, the two threw themselves into their respective roles with an undiminished fervour that earned them a huge, very well-deserved, round of applause at the show’s end. Impressive stuff.
Age limit 13+
The Void ran at Hull Truck Theatre on Saturday, September 6, the first night of a UK tour. https://www.thunderroadtheatre.org/tickets
Reviewer: Jackie Foottit
Reviewed: 6th September 2025
North West End UK Rating:
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