In Lucy Kirkwood’s compact, post-apocalyptic three-hander, a catastrophic disaster at a nuclear power station on the UK coast stands as a metaphor for the blighted legacy older generations are today bequeathing the young. Rachel O’Riordan’s tenth anniversary production shows the play – originally staged at the Royal Court - to be both slightly dated and depressingly current, succinct in some respects and vague in others.
Sixty-something Hazel (a bustling, on-edge Meera Syal) and Robin (a booming, overbearing Declan Conlon) are holed up in a barely on-grid seaside cottage, outside the exclusion zone around the leaking plant where they once worked. Electricity is scarce, irradiated veg must be washed and conversations with their distant children are limited. But cabs still operate and Robin can still drive to the petrol station for a sneaky Pepperami.
