This Little Earth ★★

Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, This Little Earth is a debut play by Jessica Norman. Produced by 3 Hearts Canvas and Izzy Carney, their award-winning reputation includes a range of smaller plays such as Spin, Smoke, The Actor’s Nightmare, and Cassie and the Lights. 3 Hearts Canvas believes that all productions they put on must be ‘boundary-pushing’ or must ‘bring something new to the table’. This Little Earth definitely intends to do these things.

Honey (Fanta Barrie) and Christopher (Ross O’Donnellan) meet in a bar. Very quickly, they bond over a passion for finding out the truth, which sends them down an Antarctica-shaped wormhole to find the edge of the Earth. This only leaves them guessing. As things unravel in the Frozen Continent, Chris reveals the truth about himself. By the end, Honey has found herself in a quasi-existential dreamscape that aims to give the play’s political message.

Let’s begin with the best parts. This play is conceptually relevant. Exploring themes of manipulation and corruption due to profit-driven algorithms is very interesting because these are genuine, modern concerns. Both characters had some funny moments too that offset this. The revelation of Christopher’s flat Earth beliefs was hilarious, and this comedy (albeit a little out of place at times) did complement the heavy themes well. In this way, the writing and direction were strong. It was an interesting piece of theatre; both actors were engaging, and the concept was great.

Refreshingly, the scenes cut between past and present, allowing some really nice character development and healthy challenges for the actors. This also begs the audience to question the deeper feelings and motives beneath the individuals, which works. Also, the transitions were very good. No need for a budget blackout in this play! The tech team were creative with their minimal set, and it was a visual feast to watch overstimulating projections of the online world. If you want to go, go for the tech! If only there was more of it.

Now. Rather disappointingly, the political themes that set the foundation for a compelling ending are undone and turned into throwaway jokes about King Charles being a penguin, which confusingly takes us to an E.T. moment in which the characters find ‘the light’. The issue with this play is that, if you are making a name for yourself as somebody who makes bold, boundary-pushing theatre at a time of such global and civil unrest, do the people really need to watch another play about a couple basically having some communication problems? Sandwiching some naturalistic bits where they talk about social issues, with no real depth, between two almost-surreal scenes does not necessarily make a piece of theatre political or interesting. The message gets lost. The plot was frustratingly overexplained for the script’s promising concept.

As for the set and the visuals, the play has got stimulating surreal elements, but they would have been more effective if the naturalistic parts were more, well, natural. For such an ambitious production, it’s necessary to get the basics right. There was some room for improvement in the momentum of the piece. Both actors needed quicker pickups between their lines to keep their chemistry and, in turn, not lose the audience. Also, there are issues with setting a play in Antarctica if you have little access to set and costume. Maybe due to lack of resources, the actors seemed forced to ‘speak the plot’ slightly, but the writer must trust that the audience will suspend their disbelief! It did not make sense for two people who are obviously lost to be shouting, “We’re lost!” Or, to be pointing out “penguins” and “icebergs” in the middle distance (multiple times!) to drive home the fact that they are in Antarctica. The previous dialogue and help from the tech team did a fabulous job of setting that scene already!

It was frustrating to see a conceptually powerful piece like This Little Earth with such potential get caught up in over-description, pacing issues, and jokes that overshadowed its message.