This play is a reimagined version of the story of Noah’s Ark – with a strong environmental message and a definite feminist twist on the whole proceedings. Very early on when Noah has finished building his Ark, his wife tells all and sundry, “I’m not getting on that!” which sets the scene for the remainder of the production.
The whole play is very tech-heavy, led by the talents of Juliann Pichelski, and starts off with the cast (and audience) participating in a Zoom meeting which, after some decidedly pertinent references to recent Zoom meetings that have gone viral, is interrupted by an extremely angry God who tells all present, “You are destroying nature in cold blood, so I’m finishing you off by sending an almighty great flood!”. Cue Noah’s attempts to save mankind (including himself, of course) by building an Ark. But Mrs Noah is having none of it and demands a rewrite of the story so that it has a happy ending and nobody drowns. God duly obliges and turns back time to the start of the flood.
The performance is littered with much humour bringing a burst of enjoyment to this piece of digital theatre. It has original music, laugh out loud jokes but a serious message.
This was a very interesting piece of drama put together by a very talented cast of young performers and writers. It is very powerful in the environmental message it puts over and succeeds in making the audience think about the part we all have to play, individually and collectively, in the future of our planet. It did at times come over to me as a Party Political Broadcast on behalf of the Green Party, which may be no bad thing if it makes us sit up and take notice of how we are treating the planet on which we live and asks the question, “Does our self-indulgent way of living our lives impact our carbon footprint?”. You will have to come up with the answer to that yourselves.
Written by April de Angelis, produced by Karen Lockyer and directed by Poppy Abbot.
Cast
Mrs Noah – Poppy Abbott
Noah – Jordan Julien
God – Lauren Alexandra
Priest – Fraser Fraser
Mrs Jonah / Shem – Emma Hodgkinson
Mrs Japheth / Ham – Alice Wolff-Whitehouse
Reviewer: Dave S Clarke
Reviewed: 17th April 2021
North West End UK Rating: ★★★