Three Plays for the End of the World
Written by Cole Hayley
Directed by Chelsea Dab Hilke
Performed by Brandon Carabin, Cole Hayley, and Anna Morreale
Production Stage Management by Georgia Holland
Set, Props and Costume Design by Claire Macaulay
Lighting and Video Design by Brenda Vaca
Sound Design and Composition by Henry Beasley
St. John’s, NL/Montreal, QC | 30 mins
Photo by Chelsea Dab Hilke.
A fantastic example of plays not needing to be long to be excellent theatre, Three Plays for the End of the World is a great compilation of short pieces that hit hard in all the best ways.
The show opens on a simple set masked in black fabric, allowing the patrons minds to wonder as to what they could unveil. Three heads inform you on what you are about to watch, the three performers incredibly well synched up—captivating the audience immediately with mysterious and devious warnings.
The second part of the show had truly wonderful physicality. A scene that is largely silent—quietly revolving around themes of desperation and hope, sprinkled with meandering thoughts and gargling—stood out to me in its relatability and movement.
The third piece was a conversation that led the audience to wonder how it would converge. Two very different people with seemingly separate trains of thought wove through well-painted pictures of both the outdoor scenes as well as the views from within. This scene cleverly uses drums in a delightfully aggressive form of punctuation to bring a tale, both traumatic and tricky, to an end.
In all, this show has all the substance I craved, the performers were consistent and the writing was quite great. Three Plays for the End of the World was a really fantastic example of quality over quantity and I can’t wait to see what else this theatre troupe puts out.
Three Plays for the End of the World runs until February 12. Tickets are pay-what-you-can from $5 to $75. For more information and to purchase tickets, see the undercurrents schedule here.
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