Viscosity Theatre proudly presents Holocene, Hugh Bickley’s new post-apocalyptic play about the dissolution of human culture at the end of the world.
In the final days of human civilization, a middle-aged schoolteacher named Benny struggles to stage the world’s last play. Serving as the head of humanity’s last bastion of academia behind the walls of a territory erected during an apocalypse hundreds of years ago, Benny’s efforts to bridge the generational gap of an infertile, illiterate populace prove futile as his students grow into adults and look for the first time to new horizons. Now facing both the end of his bloodline and the inevitable estrangement of his wife, Starla, Benny endeavors to find meaning in a life that may leave no trace.
But just as it seems he may be destined to live out his dying days in vain, the clouds above the territory part for the first time in centuries, releasing a howling meteorite of supernatural proportions. As the anomaly crashes into the land beyond the wall, Benny finds himself in possession of a paranormal power that may allow him to reverse his fortune and that of his University. But as he strains to wield this new power, Benny steers his family toward an uncertain frontier, where they endure the ghosts of his past, the wrath of an unstable government, and the second coming of none other than poet laureate Walt Whitman himself.
Part ghost story, part cautionary tale, Holocene is the telling of the end of our world… and the beginning of another.
OPENING September 21st, 2014 at the Palace Lounge in Missoula.
SHOWTIMES
(All shows start at 7pm. House opens at 6:15pm):
Sunday, September 21st
Monday, September 22nd
Tuesday, September 23rd
Thursday, September 25th
Sunday, September 28th
Monday, September 29th
Tuesday, September 30th
Wednesday, October 1st
Thursday, October 2nd
Friday, October 3rd
Online tickets available soon.
CAST AND CREW:
Written by Hugh Bickley
Directed by Sam Williamson
Set Design by Hannah Appell
Stage Managed by Sarah Ingold
Dramaturged by Kate Morris
Lighting Design by Diego Burgos
Produced by Josh Wagner, Viscosity Theatre, and Hugh Bickley
Starring:
Kurtis Hassinger as Benny
Kate Scott as Starla
Sean Kirkpatrick as Chickenwing
Colton Swibold as Mallard
Alexsa Prince as Ember
Logan La Cross as Rudolph
Nick Pavelich as Elliott Loveless
Set Design Consultation: Ryan Luwe
Costume Consultation: Kate Scott
Special thanks to Scott Morris for early design consultation.