An apocalypse has occurred. We are left to examine the fallout in a lopsided English seaside cottage.

In a room that makes us feel unsteady, there is something disconcerting about the yoga mat leaning against a pot belly stove that looks to have never been lit. There are cracks in the walls, a basket of laundry askew and a woman with a bloody nose. This is a snapshot of somebody’s domesticity, but it’s not the characters we are about to meet.

Tina Bursill in The Children. Photo © Matt Byrne/State Theatre South Australia

Written by Lucy Kirkwood (Chimerica; Mosquitoes), the premise – a nuclear plant disaster following an earthquake and tsunami – would be prima facie ludicrous, were it not based on real-world events. Retired nuclear scientists learn they have been left wanting in the planning and execution part of their former jobs as, yes, nuclear scientists. They consider whether to try and make amends when things go from bad to worse.

Directed by Corey McMahon, three-characters – Rose (Tina Bursill), Hazel (Genevieve Mooy) and Robin (Terence Crawford) – examine their existence over one linear scene. This is a glacially-paced...