A tight-knit community from a remote volcanic island feels the tremors of their past and the uncertainty of their future when they are forced to suddenly evacuate in Douglas College departments of Theatre and Stagecraft & Event Technology’s production of Zinnie Harris’s Further than the Furthest Thing.
Directed by Deborah Neville, the play tells the story of survival and the adaptability of people amidst drastic change. Loosely based on the history of the world’s most remotely inhabited island, Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic Ocean, Harris’s play examines what happens when community, belonging and connection to nature are sacrificed in the name of progress.
When the island’s volcano erupts and the islanders are evacuated to England, they must face the secrets of their past and learn how to live in an unfamiliar, modern world. They must learn how to navigate a new environment and new relationships together, all while trying not to lose themselves along the way.
"Just like the movement of tectonic plates, each character's decisions have seismic consequences that affect the other characters,” said Neville. “They are completely connected, and as each character decides to reveal or conceal information, all the others are substantially jarred or moved. And we keep having these incredible moments of friction, tension, eruption.”
Neville hopes that through the intensity of the play’s subject matter, audiences will recognize a deeper message about humanity.
“What drew me to this play is the hopefulness that is a fundamental part of what it is to be human, the resilience and tenacity of folk, the importance of relationships and the power of staying true to oneself among all of that,” said Neville.
The cast of Further than the Furthest Thing includes Bradley Wade (Vancouver), Oscar Pacheco, Sarah Ibarra (Mexico), and Douglas College alumni Jono Klassen and Kiyomi Hoover (Coquitlam).
Further than the Furthest Thing opens March 22 at 7:30pm and runs until March 28 at Douglas College’s New Westminster Campus’s Studio Theatre. There will be livestreams of the performances on March 23, 2pm and March 26, 7:30pm. Get your tickets at douglascollege.ca/arts-events.
Douglas College is the largest degree-granting college in B.C., combining the academic foundations of a university and the employer-ready skills of a college to graduate resilient global citizens who adapt, innovate and lead in a changing world.
For more information, visit douglascollege.ca
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Elizabeth Douglas
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douglase2@douglascollege.ca