Theater review by Raven Snook
The son of a climate scientist, the Australian writer-performer David Finnigan has spent his theatrical career exploring our planet’s existential crisis. In his solo cri de coeur Deep History, he interweaves a historical survey of ecological change with an illustration of its effects today: the harrowing tale of his friend Jack and his family’s efforts to escape the 2019 Australian bushfires, an unnatural disaster that scorched 59 million acres, displaced 65,000 people and killed 1 billion animals. When Finnigan began performing the piece two years ago, it bore a longer name: You’re Safe Til 2024: Deep History. The title may now be less dire, but the show itself remains unsettling—yet surprisingly hopeful, if not always dramatic.
Witty, barefoot and exceedingly charming under Annette Mees’s straightforward direction, Finnigan puts a personal spin on this overwhelming subject. As he describes the six turning points that, according to his father, led humanity to this moment, he narrates the journey through the eyes of a magical time-hopping survivor. That certainly makes the science more digestible, as does Finnigan’s clever use of a stream of sugar to illustrate our exploding population. (As the grains pile up they come to resemble an hourglass, reminding us that we are running low on time.) But the show can’t quite shake the feel of an entertaining lecture.
It’s only during the climatic section, as Finnigan shares Jack’s desperate text updates while doomscrolling social media for live footage of the flames, that Deep History feels like theater. As Finnigan’s terror and anger rise, and horrifying footage of the inferno streams behind him, his artivism finally connects with force. Finnigan says that he wrote this play in a frenzied 72-hour period four years ago, but it could have been written yesterday; just ask the folks in Florida. But Finnigan’s cautionary wail is tempered with optimism that we are finally taking baby steps to weather the changes of weather. Time will only tell whether we can.
Deep History. The Public Theater (Off Broadway). By David Finnigan. Directed by Annette Mees. With Finnigan. Running time: 1hr 5mins. No intermission.
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Deep History. | Photograph: Courtesy Joan Marcus
