Antrobus & Gone

Two short plays, two endings, two new beginnings. This year’s collection of shows from Gemini CollisionWorks, The Collisionworks 2011: At The Ends (aka 3 Terminal Plays or 3 Ultimate Plays), focuses on finality, mortality, and the conclusion of all things, with the caveat that each tragic ending can bring the possibility of a glorious new beginning. These two plays, at turns both funny and heartbreaking, face the reality of their terminal endings with a smile and the belief that there will always be someone left to carry on, remember history, and start again.

Antrobus – At the end of the world, or soon after, or soon before, as the ice rises and the food grows scarce, the six members of a “family” that has banded together for survival begin to turn on each other as the years of hardship, cabin fever, and resentment catch up with them, and neither the old or young members of the family are sure what to do next: stay still and avoid risk, or move forward and search for other people and ways of living in a changed world. The one thing they have to hold onto are the pages of a thick history book, telling the story of how the world came apart, which mysteriously comes apart itself every night and must be ritually restored, every single day . . .

Gone – At the end of a life, two dear old friends sit at a cafe table and reminisce. One of them will not be leaving. But before that, and before, during and after night falls, they will share, argue, debate, and discuss the details of their shared and separate lives, in a form of the English language that is nearly unrecognizable, made of almost nothing but portmanteau words and echoes of familiar sounds. These sounds may become understandable and meaningful, if you really listen to them. But be careful how close you listen, as the pain is never far away.