19:00, Thu 9th – Sat 11th March 2023 at Howard Theatre, Downing College
Lent Week 7

A short play about ambition, jealousy and friendship in a post-apocalyptic society.

The world has been ravaged by ecological disaster. The seas rose, the deserts expanded, and the atmosphere turned toxic. Almost everything that came before has been washed away by catastrophe after catastrophe. Yet, in spite of a world falling apart around them, humans remain, living lives not too dissimilar from the ones they led before.

Rob lives in Swaffham Agricultural Settlement, a tiny, insular community left behind by the harsh world outside. A member of one of the last generations to get a formal education before everything collapsed, he dreams of something more. A job as an analyst in the illustrious Capital Zone - a chance to move out of his tiny world and see the bigger picture for once in his life. All he has to do now is convince himself there’s nothing to leave behind…

Kirsten lives in Swaffham too. In fact, she practically built the place. A practically trained engineer, she has spent a lifetime learning on the job, maintaining the vital life-support machinery that keeps everyone on the settlement alive and breathing. Her dreams are irrelevant, in the face of her vital tasks. She has no qualifications - a job and a life anywhere else but here is a distant dream. If only, though…

Stuck in a community left behind, and struggling with applications, relationships and uncertain futures, Rob and Kirsten take the time to sit down and have a talk between friends. It might be one of the last times they ever get to do so, one way or another…