ESCAPED ALONE and HERE WE GO by Caryl Churchill

ESCAPED ALONE presents a 55-minute elliptical view of the apocalypse, fantasy intricately wired with politics. Four women in their 70s gather for tea in an English garden, combining small talk and the everyday anxieties of contemporary life, juxtaposed to the cataclysmic possibilities that teeter on our response to dire warnings of climate change and environmental devastation.Their gossipy everyday conversations lay bare their psychological troubles — from depression to fear of cats, from an “accidentally” dead husband to agoraphobia — punctuated starkly with surreal apocalyptic monologues. Which world is real? How are they connected?

Churchill peers into the void with HERE WE GO, a poetic triptych of mortality. She presents, in reverse order, a man nearing the end of life, his view from the threshold of the afterlife, and the reminiscences at his funeral. In the first scene, a group has gathered at a party after a funeral, remembering the man who has passed. In the second scene, a man observes the afterlife—Valhalla, Charon, and other mythical representations appear to him. But has he died? In the third wordless section, we see the intimate relationship between a frail man winding down his life with a caregiver.

And yet, reviews repeatedly refer to these plays as Churchill’s funniest work yet!

Cast features Maria Asp, Charla Marie Bailey, Patrick Bailey Barbra Berlovitz, Cheryl Willis, Janis Hardy. Production team: Director, Wendy Knox; Set Design by Joe Stanley; Costume Design by Kathy Kohl; Lighting Design by Mike Wangen; Sound design by Dan Dukich; Stage Managed by Glenn Klapperich.