A couple celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary; their understated surroundings ooze of comfort and wealth and no hardships. They are very much in love, snaking around each other playfully and lovingly, reminiscing about meeting, gently disagreeing about the music they want to play: to dance or to soothe them, and agree a compromise. But this is no ordinary romantic evening of celebration: they are two of the first colonists to settle on Mars, to try and make it habitable. He: Jasper, is a tech billionaire, and she: Lily, is an exceptionally clever and forward thinking engineer, who started as his employee. They continue to work side by side, supporting each other and being each other’s biggest allies. They watch the Mars sunset on the bright orange sands and watch the little blue dot of earth in the sky, against the backdrop of stars from this unique perspective. The writing style, however, is an interesting choice. Much of it is written in Shakespearean style language, including some sections in rhyming couplets. Some of the words are rich and poetic and the imagery is beautiful, but the style, without any explanation of anything to do with Shakespeare or that time period throughout the whole play, is a little odd.
Emotions emitting so clearly from love to betrayal to despair and everything in between
It’s a very interesting premise: nuclear war has destroyed virtually all life on earth and this finally galvanised those in power to action; to send the bright and the brave to Mars to make it habitable for human life. There is much technical discussion about how they do this, and as writer Carly Hendricks who also plays Lily is a former SpaceX engineer, what they discuss sounds completely credible without losing the audience in techno-jargon. Then everything changes, as they suddenly get a message from earth – the first in five years, from what should have been a dead or dying planet. This is the catalyst for a world revelation from Jasper, followed by a personal revelation, which rocks the foundation of everything that Lily has believed and known for the past 12 years: a profound betrayal, even though Jasper states very good reasons. This sparks the unearthing of cracks under the veneer of their relationship: where Lily feels unheard, not respected for her qualifications and knowledge but merely regarded as a spouse to support him. His reliance on data and facts overrides his hearing of her ideas and instincts: a familiar argument in many a relationship. The message is finally played and adds another layer and decisions which will affect everything.
There are many concepts brought up in this play which spark interesting debate. What will inspire people in the world to finally collaborate and solve climate crisis, and can it be solved? Is it only war that brings us together? Will the people with money and power actually listen and respect the guidance they are being given with projections based on what is possible, not just facts? Is it all fate anyway, is it all simply decided? These are big important questions and setting it within a love story makes it accessible, but, this varnishes over things with platitudes and reassurances. It’s a tricky if not impossible task to show the entire arc of a relationship with all the emotions felt by two humans in one hour, and the resolution was rushed and seemed inauthentic and a little forced. Carly as Lily is a joy to watch, the emotions emitting so clearly from love to betrayal to despair and everything in between: a very empathetic and genuine performance. Overall, a very interesting piece.
