Late one enchanted night, a strange new visitor drops anchor at a backwoods Christmas tree farm somewhere in the Maritimes. A small, glowing planet floating in orbit overhead, but connected to Earth by way of an earthen stairway into the sky that starts just outside the back door of the farmhouse of single mom Karen and her troubled teen daughter,
Jess. Ruled legal owner and guardian of the planet, Karen takes on the mantle of Queen of Utopia. And when the planet is discovered to be habitable and bursting with natural resources and fossil fuels, she is soon courted by developers and politicians of all stripes. What to do with Utopia is a question that will soon push Karen and her family to the edge, even as the once friendly face of the planet begins to appear more malign. Utopia is a rich, densely layered work that is at once a dark fairy tale, an allegory, and a moving, emotionally powerful drama about parenthood and the plight of the powerless. Utopia will be making its world premiere at the Vancouver Fringe, and is the newest play from Fredericton, NB-
based Theatre Free Radical, who earned critical acclaim at the Fringe for their productions of Free/Fall (2010) and Doppelgänger (2008). The play features a haunting original score by ambient/experimental musician and composer Eric Hill, as well as Theatre Free Radical’s trademark multimedia performance style, which has captivated critics and audiences at Fringes from coast to coast, earning Best of Fringe ratings for Doppelgänger (Edmonton, 2006), Free/Fall (Toronto, 2004), Manifesto (Winnipeg, 2001) and Allure (Edmonton, 2000).
