Reviewed by: Oscar Lidgerwood

Editor: Sophia Zikic

Do Everything Now Before the World Ends’ thought-provoking effervescence confronted the nihilistic existentialism that underpins our everyday life in a tight 40-minute ensemble piece. Union House Theatre (UHT) tackled this relevant topic of the world’s impending end with bold, non-natural stylistic choices that transcended the audience beyond the walls of the Guild Theatre, creating a piece of theatre to start a conversation, with true purpose and heart to back it up. The performance followed a group of students addressing an ecological cataclysm, dancing their way through the geopolitics of an environmental apocalypse, asking: where do you fit in this world?

From the dedication of the usher staff, the adornment of tinsel throughout the foyer, to the energetic chorus forming a runway to guide the audience into the theatre, Do Everything Now Before the World Ends was an unforgettably immersive theatre experience. The space was expertly transformed by the work of Emily Collett and Louisa Fitzgerald, from disco balls to denim stools – the set was Armageddon level chaos, in the best way possible. This created an immediate introduction to the feel of the performance, greeted by a bombardment of the senses, with the psychedelic sound design, and the chorus of actors surrounding the space upon entering. Every element of the space ensured there would be an overwhelming sense of what we could come to expect from the performance to follow.

These particular types of performances struggle to hold their own without a strong ensemble. Fortunately, this group of actors were tight. Each individual in every moment was more than capable to not only understand their own character, but created a cohesive company with the other actors. The actor’s performances were notably strong, and they each committed to their respective parts which I admire greatly. Each actor was able to highlight their talent individually throughout the performance, finding moments to stand out. Notably, Sonya Chong possessed a nuanced understanding in her role, whether it was in moments within the chorus, or taking centrestage, her demanding stage presence captured audience attention at every moment. Similarly, as “the outsider” Pippa Arton-Brown established an eerie relationship with the audience from the beginning of the performance, before even crossing the threshold into the Guild Theatre. Her intense stares and brilliantly ethereal costume (by Natalie Gillis and Linh Phan) created an otherworldly tone in the production, setting the perfect scene, aided by Arton-Brown’s brilliant acting choices that possessed a refined intricacy to create many powerful emotionally charged moments between characters. With such a strong cast, I think the production would have greatly benefited from finding nuance within each character instead of playing so far into their archetypes. Despite only being forty minutes long, some development could have aided the flow of the piece. With that said, the strength of these actors still managed to stand out. They delivered nuanced shifts of mood, from an Everything, Everywhere, All At Once level of absurdism, to immediately stripping back to a real raw vulnerability. The team at UHT took audiences on a journey that had us considering our place in the world, and what the end of days means to us.

To be honest, the dedicated marketing efforts from the UHT team really piqued my interest for the show and had me incredibly eager to see this production, and its concept really drew me in. However, an ambiguity remained throughout the performance that could have been resolved with a more coherent structure. Devising an experimental ensemble performance allows for a creative approach to theatre making, and seeing each element influence the performance was a joy to watch. While these ensemble style pieces tend to lend themselves to style over narrative, I felt would have benefited from something to connect its heavy themes, whether it be through a protagonist or emphasising the immense dramatic potential of the end of the world. I found the jumps between scenes to be quite constant and due to the fast-paced nature of the performance, I did not have the time to process the last moment before I was immersed in the next. While the shifts were jarring, each scene was incredibly enjoyable to watch, and while they did “do everything”, everything they were doing had purpose, and the actors delivered it with conviction.

The creative team made many bold choices that demonstrated the innovation of the UHT theatre team, with the direction of Xanthe Beesley and Caroline Meaden a notable standout of the night. Staging a theatre in-the-round production comes with inherent difficulties, but Beesley and Meaden approached this with great care and placed the experience of the audience at the forefront of creative decisions. While there were moments when actors were upstaging the action, it did not matter, as there might have been another actor commando-crawling across the stage, or untangling Christmas lights. Beesley and Meaden’s direction truly exemplified the name of the play, which made this play such an enjoyable viewing experience.

Do Everything Now Before the World Ends deals with some weighty topics. Issues of nihilism and the climate crisis are becoming increasingly relevant and the insight into multiple individuals’ perspectives surrounding this topic is remarkably profound. The creative product was a joy to watch, but the performers did something that isn’t seen often in contemporary theatre, especially a lot of political, student theatre; they had fun with it. To quote UHT, the production “will make you laugh, sigh, and hug your neighbour”, and I couldn’t agree more.