Candide - Mark Ravenhill

All the world's an Xbox and you're a player

Candide is an optimist. A dreamer. He believes that everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. But that belief is about to be tested as Candide's comfortable life is overtaken by an endless barrage of misfortune.

First published in 1759, the story traces the journey of a young man who leads a sheltered life, believing that mankind lives in the best of all possible worlds and that everything happens for the best. But Candide's happiness comes to a sharp end when he is unfairly evicted from his uncle's castle for kissing his cousin and true love, Lady Cungonde. Cast out into the big wide world, Candide is forced to confront reality.

As his world collapses around him, we are transported across the centuries to new locations and parallel universes. How will Candide's optimism fare when it collides with life in the twenty-first century?