The Death of Dystopia

Theatrical play + post-show talk | Doors open 19:30 | In English

ONE and TWO inhabit Middle Earth, a country at the centre of their world. Their planet mirrors ours in many ways: humans breathe, talk, walk, sleep, and eat; animals do the same; there are cities, banks, airplanes, air, water, and an urgent planetary crisis. Yet, something about their speech, movements, and environment feels unsettlingly off—an uncanny quality that extends beyond the circles perched atop their heads.

TWO appears to be the gentler of the pair, perhaps due to their chronic pain, which flairs up whenever they try to think. Thinking also causes ONE discomfort, but unlike TWO, ONE avoids the effort entirely—why think, if it hurts? ONE dismisses TWO’s pain as self-inflicted and responds with little sympathy, which often manifests in sharp-edged behavior that verges on cruelty. Despite their friction, ONE and TWO share a kind of domestic paradise—not contentment, exactly, but a state of comfort born from their shared ignorance. They remain blissfully detached, even as their neighbors and strangers warn of the encroaching fire.

FIRE, ancient and omnipresent, enters their world as a force both calm and deliberate. A shapeshifter, FIRE is everything and everyone: you, me, the birds, and the land. FIRE is neither nurturing nor vengeful but a creator and destroyer. Its arrival forces ONE and TWO to confront the fragility of their comfort. How will they respond to this imminent threat? How can they possibly imagine an escape if thinking itself is unbearable? What truths about their uncanny dystopian world will FIRE’s arrival expose?

THE AUDIENCE are members of the public who are watching this play. Their role is ambiguous, neither all-knowing nor powerless but bound to the world they observe, as implicated as anyone by the events that unfold.

After the performance, we’re hosting an informal, reflective conversation, featuring invited guests from fields such as climate education, sustainability, and mental health. The talk is intended to be intimate and conversational—more of a shared dialogue than a traditional panel—with a mixed audience of students, artists, and cultural practitioners.