"And Now, The End", SummerWorks, Theatre Passe Muraille, Toronto, ON

This evening Gord and I saw And Now, The End, which is part of the 2004 SummerWorks Festival. 

SummerWorks is Canada's largest juried performance festival. For 11 days in August, it takes over the Queen West Strip, hosting theatre, music, performance and more.

It was playing at the Theatre Muraille, about a fifteen minute walk from home.

With the announcement of the coming apocalypse, the citizens of Roxton, a small Canadian town, struggle to come to terms with their imminent doom: a young woman’s tragic past threatens her relationship with her best friend; a doctor’s profession goes from saving lives to ending them: the wife of a stranded astronaut desperately hopes for his return; a pair of slacker interns finally live their dream by hosting their own radio show. 

This new Canadian musical examines life, death, and what people choose do with the time they have left. 

Performed by Troy Adams, Tamara Bernier Evans, Ruth Goodwin, Kaleigh Gorka, Amir Haidar, Zach Parkhurst, Hugh Ritchie, Paolo Santalucia, Jeff Yung

There is an asteroid heading for earth in a year's time and everyone will die.  This play follows various people as they get ready for the end.  Best friends Clare and Johnny have just graduated from high school and don't have a future ahead of them.  Inez is pregnant and is looking forward to having her baby and spending time with her ... she hooks up with the doctor who has become used to ending the lives of those who don't want to wait 'til the end.  Cathy's husband is an stranded astronaut and seeks comfort from the brother of her neighbour.  Dan and Scott are determined to keep hosting their radio show for anyone who may be listening.

I'm not into end-of-the-world movies and books ... I find them depressing.  So I wasn't sure whether I would like this play ... but I did ... a lot!  It was very well-acted ... it was obvious that these were professional.  Despite the subject matter, it was funny at times.  There were 14 songs and they weren't all doom and gloom.

My one complaint is that the band was really LOUD and drowned out the singers.  We initially sat in the front row next to the band and moved back a bit once the play started.

I would recommend this play!