Stanislavski Can't Save Me From The Apocalypse ****

Five young women go to a summer camp in Maine to teach teenagers drama. Not the end of the world, is it?

But it is, literally.

For those unfamiliar with Stanislavski, he was a leading theatre practitioner and director, whose ideas have been adopted - and been regarded in reverential tones - for decades. But can his acting system prepare anyone for the apocalypse?

As their time at the camp draws to a close, an unspecified pandemic has devastated mankind. Return to their homes and former lives is out of the question. They are unwittingly cast as parents to 40 children. Urgent, essential, questions need to be addressed: how shall they survive when electricity is discontinued? How can they stay safe from attack? Do they have a source of food and water? And just who should take the lead in their forthcoming production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods?

The play opens with the stakes already high - there have been deaths. There is clearly antagonism within the group, with the struggle for leadership inevitably evoking Lord of the Flies. At least some of the team lack the skills necessary for this apocalyptic situation, while others have firmly retreated into denial.

The five comprise Erika (Molly Wolff), Dani (Christie Griffin), Claire (Lydia Hopgood), Elizabeth (Cate Johannessen), along with technician Mary (Frankie Minnock). The performances are a little uneven and occasionally a little heightened, although Minnock’s calm authority was noteworthy. As a dark comedy it often hit its marks, with various references to film and theatre. Overall, however, this is a promising production from Living Room Productions.

An intriguing plot device is the play’s reverse-chronological structure. This allows the audience to scrutinise the five women’s gradual descent into disorder, while dramatic irony gives us a “superior position”: we know what the characters cannot.

Tellingly, the individual aspirations of youth are laid bare. History suggests that many young drama practitioners will never quite realise their dreams; however, most poignantly, in Stanislavski Can’t Save Me from the Apocalypse, we are placed into the uncomfortable position of knowing this to be true.

In Life During Wartime, Talking Heads observe “What good are notebooks? They won't help me survive…”. Well perhaps – but what about Stanislavski’s acting system?

Greenside (George Street) until August 22^nd.