Set in 1964, this is the true story of an earthquake that devastated Alaska. Disasters can be difficult to turn into compelling theatre because there’s a lot of story and not enough plots. Films depend on spectacle to maintain interest; come and see buildings collapse while extras frantically flee the destruction. In theatre that’s rarely an option, so young company ‘Maybe You Like It’ have written a madcap comedy with a hint of tragedy.

Genie Chance is a journalist on a local radio station who has to battle through sexism to deliver the quality of information that she knows the terrified community needs to survive. Her teenage intern Dom and his girlfriend Kathleen have to fill acres of dead air while Genie is out in the field gathering updates. A general who is in Alaska for a winter festival finds himself having to organise a huge relief operation, and an old radio ham becomes a vital part of their communication system.

Two performers, Ellie Jay Cooper and Robert Merriam, play all of the roles, and they’re great at creating each character with a gesture or a bit of costume. Despite also being great at accents the flaw is their voices, which keep the same tone and pace for almost all of the running time. Everything is very fast and there’s no time for characters to express much emotion. The closest we get to real drama is Genie pleading with the General to let her be part of the emergency team, and arguing with her husband about her job.

In real life the earthquake made Genie famous and she got a divorce and went into politics. The play avoids politics, but does make some points about the need for community and the importance of being able to trust the media. ‘Information has consequences,’ something that social media influencers forget in their rush to be viral, rather than useful. If the earthquake happened today, someone would claim it was a caused by a secret government weapon. Even the Connie Francis song that played as we came into space is oddly relevant, since Francis found TikTok fame with her 1962 B-side ‘Pretty Little Baby’.

The audience reaction was enthusiastic. They loved the details. Dom and Kathleen were especially funny as they came up with new items; agony aunt letters, a fake Beatles interview, reading Walt Whitman, trying to play charades, singing ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’. Genie carried the more poignant moments; reading personal messages about the missing, being guilt-tripped about working when she could be with her family, making the worrying decision not to scare Alaskans with a warning about a predicted aftershock. It’s perhaps a little glib, but it’s enjoyable.

‘Down to Chance‘ is at Pleasance Courtyard – Beside until Mon 25 Aug 2025 at 14:10