The world premiere of Second Coming is a contemplation of humanity’s near future, but it is so thematically crowded that it loses touch with the play’s human heart.

The third work by Playlab Literary Manager Kathryn Marquet to premiere at La Boite (preceded by Pale Blue Dot in 2014 and The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek in 2018) Second Coming examines the intersection of money-making and environmental catastrophe in a signature style interspersing dialogue with monologues in which characters wax poetic about their core beliefs, hopes and fears.

La Boite Theatre’s Second Coming. Photo © Stephen Henry

In 2065, Earth is becoming uninhabitable and corporate missions to Mars offer hope for humanity. The Ark II, funded by corporate superpower Genesis and its trillionaire CEO Zane Brooksbank (played via video by Darren Gilshenan), is on course for the Second Eden on Mars.

The ship is loaded with the DNA of endangered animals, to be raised in purpose-built biomes and overseen by Nobel Prize-winning geneticist Evie. Also aboard are fanatical captain Zara (Merlynn Tong), charismatic celebrity chef-cum-horticulturalist Noah (Gideon Mzembe), and Evie’s trailing spouse, Alan (Anthony Standish), a geologist.

They are monitored by Aida (voiced...