FAR AWAY
by Caryl Churchill
Part of the Northwestern S.I.T.E Festival 2013, performed in various site-specific spaces in Evanston.
Directed by Jessica Fisch
Scenic Design by Shawn Ketchum Johnson
Costume Design by Stephanie Cluggish
Lighting Design by Maya Michelle Fein
Sound Design and Composition by Kevin O'Donnell
Far Away presents us with the progression of a dystopian future; at first, when Joan is young, there is unrest and secret human transport; once she is a young woman, government sponsored mass killings by contest; and eventually a break down where all things, cats and Chinese and wasps and water and children under 5, all must take sides in a truly world-wide war. Churchill presents all this in an oblique way, however, instead focusing on Joan and her relationship with her Aunt Harper and a young man she meets at work, Todd. We learn with her to trust the information presented to us, to mold oneself to what you think is 'right' or 'wrong' based on what we're told by others. She is finding her way through a world with stark and terrifying consequences, to find that she has no control over any of it.