Here After – Toronto Fringe 2014 Press Release

 From Press Release

IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT.

A fresh take on the post-apocalyptic genre premieres at Toronto Fringe Theatre Festival.

Climate Change. Overpopulation. Pharmaceutical industry ethics. These are news stories that dominate the media spotlight and our cultural debates today. Inspired by these issues, Here After imagines a hypothetical future where the discovery of a drug that grants immortality means that we have to face the long term consequences of the way we live today.

Four people who have survived the political upheaval and the dissolution of society as we know it have taken refuge in an underground bunker to wait out the environmental apocalypse. But they must also fight against the immortality-inducing drug’s unintended side effect – when the human mind can no longer keep up with its immortal body, people go “blank” and slip into a coma-like state. The only way to fight this is to keep constantly mentally stimulated. But after hundreds of years in a bunker with the same people, going blank begins to look like the only way out.

In a stylistic homage to classic existentialist narratives, Here After asks what is worth living for when there is no end. Though set in the future, the play is rooted in our contemporary world and presents a future that is not only possible, but plausible.

Here After is the second production by Upstart Theatre, the creative collaboration between playwright and director Meg Moran and producer Meara Tubman-Broeren. Their inaugural production, The Seagull in Four Movements, a site specific adaptation of Chekhov’s classic play, was performed at the Winchester Kitchen and Bar in 2013. For Here After they are joined by a cast and creative team of exciting emerging artists.

Upstart Theatre presents

In association with the Toronto Fringe Theatre Festival

Here After

Written and Directed by Meg Moran

Featuring Owen Fawcett, Elizabeth Tanner, Chiamaka Ugwu, and Enzo Voci

Produced by Meara Tubman-Broeren Dramaturged by Brooklyn Doran Stage Managed by Ashley Panzarella Set and Lighting Design by Steph Raposo

Costume Design by Vera Kostiuk Sound Design by Steven Retsinas

July 3rd-13th

Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace – 16 Ryerson Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2P3

Performances:

Thursday July 3rd, 2014 at 7:45 p.m.

Saturday July 5th, 2014 at 3:15 p.m.

Sunday July 6th, 2014 at 4:30 p.m.

Monday July 7th, 2014 at 2:15 p.m.

Wednesday July 9th, 2014 at 10:00 p.m.

Thursday July 10th, 2014 at 4:30 p.m.

Friday July 11th, 2014 at 8:45 p.m.

Sunday July 13th, 2014 at 2:15 p.m.

Tickets: $10 at the door/$12 in advance. Tickets can be purchased online at www.fringetoronto.com, by phone at 416-966-1062, or at the door.

For more information, go to http://hereafterfringe.wordpress.com.