The Evolution Revolution

‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,’ says Digby Tofu at the start of this new play from Singapore’s Conundrum Theatre. These words from Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities bookend the dystopia of The Evolution Revolution. It’s several lifetimes on from today, when society and countries have collapsed, and where this pocket of the planet is ruled by Lord Pinkle Dinkle Smith the Third.

The population is controlled through a strait-laced and straight-faced militia, handing out tickets for requesting too much ‘wonder’ bread, and the newsreader smile of Betty ‘kindly reminding’ everyone of their duty to ‘we’, and not ‘I’.

This is a brilliantly written piece of theatre devised by the young cast, written by Kimberley Sim, and directed by Claire Glenn, who’s also the group’s founder and artistic director.

The concept is not unfamiliar, with revolution simmering, young love not held back by rules, and parents with dark secrets. But the story is fresh, and its view of the distant future far from ridiculous. The ‘optional, but highly recommended’ introduction of ‘evolution surgery’ to remove the need to purge waste from the human body doesn’t seem that outrageous in post-Trump and peri-Putin times.

The performances from the ensemble are real – every character is clearly drawn, detailed and shown on the stage. Yasmin Yon as Tim is funny by playing straight, Siena Abraham’s heroine Alison is convincing, and Hayden Roberts has so much fun playing the self-serving Lord. Eve Chambers, who bookends the play strongly with Dickens and Shakespeare, plays dual characters of wise Digby and picked-on Pegasus, and these are confidently delivered with a maturity and nuance beyond her years.

This is knowingly funny yet frighteningly possible – and is well worth a visit to the Migration Museum hub.

Mark Wickett