Longstanding friends and collaborators, David Pledger and Yorta Yorta/Wurundjeri man, actor, curator and director Tony Briggs have established the collaborative practice, Tomorrow’s Pasts under the moniker – briggsnpledger.

Inspired by the multimedia theatre event, K, produced by NYID, written and directed by dp and starring Tony, Tomorrow’s Pasts is a multi-platform concept for digital art, theatre, videogame and television that pivots around an alternate Australian history in which a race-based civil war is a defining event.

The practice uses generative AI as a creative tool to develop story, character and the multiple worlds and times in which the narrative unfolds. This work is incorporated in a complex dramaturgy in which dp and Tony’s artistic and creative practices in television, performing arts, film and emerging technologies interplay with their respective cultural backgrounds.

The ambition of briggsnpledger is to build an alternate history of Australia as a way to imagine better futures. Their work will touch on current themes and experiences around racism and the telling of history and invite conversation around the kinds of futures we wish to create and who has the agency and authority to create them.

The project has been supported by Frame Doc Lab enabling briggsnpledger to develop their videogame concept. They have been invited to participate in a number of conferences and publications.

A series of adventures in research, practice and production are planned for 2024.