Just the attempt to stage John Wyndham’s 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids is a bold enterprise in itself. The titular triffids are seven-foot-tall carnivorous plants. That’s played for comedic effect in Little Shop of Horrors, but Wyndham was sincere.

So this production, adapted and directed by Jay James-Moody for the New Theatre, announces its ambition simply by the fact of its existence. Making it even more difficult for himself, James-Moody largely follows the complex narrative of the novel, resulting in a two-hour production without an interval on opening night.

Umai Shantharajah and James Collins in New Theatre’s The Day of the Triffids. Photo © Chris Lundie

In Triffids, the protagonist Bill Masen (James Collins) survives a meteor storm or satellite weapon that blinds most of the planet’s population, then bumps through a picaresque series of abortive attempts to maintain or abandon society. Meanwhile, the Soviet-engineered triffids (farmed for their nutrients and oils) begin to stalk the remaining humans across the ruins of London and England’s pleasant pastures.

Although James-Moody throws a fair bit of schlock and comedy into the works, making heavy use of projected media, a directional sound system,...