Future Anxiety, Laurel Haines’ black comedy at the Flea Theater, gives audiences quite a bit to be anxious about. Overpopulation, lack of resources, pollution, and slavery are just a few of the issues facing the earth’s inhabitants, skillfully portrayed by the 23 actors from The Bats, the resident acting company of The Flea.
The play is composed of interlocking stories about life in a chaotic near future. It begins with news announcements about tornado-canes (combination of tornado and hurricane), allergies and birth defects rising, life expectancy falling, stock market closing (for good) and unemployment rates dropping to “only” 65 percent. China is leading the world and scorning Americans for borrowing, spending and using take-out containers. Unemployed American citizens who are unable to pay their debts are collected and sent off to China to work. Fresh air appears to be a laughable notion and Christians are trying to repopulate the world by impregnating their women with 12 babies at a time. Does this paint a grim enough picture?
Luckily, the fanatical Karl (Ugo Chukwu) is offering a way out onboard a spaceship built by Ernie (Brett Aresco), a former custodian engineer at NASA, to a planet that the government is building for the wealthiest one percent of the population. The onstage chemistry between Chukwu and Aresco is as electrifying as their characters’ master plan. Particularly commendable is Aresco’s silent portrayal of the peculiar Ernie using only facial expressions, bodily movements and other non-verbal cues to accurately communicate Ernie’s bizarre traits to the audience.
Amidst the satire and the exaggerated threats, there are moments of poignant intensity such as when an American slave (Raúl Sigmund Julia) in China refuses to be liberated and tells his supervisor (Holly Chou) that he likes being a slave because it absolves him of responsibility so that he can no longer be held accountable for the annihilation of his own planet. His helplessness and utter defeat reminded me of the many people I know who choose to look the other way on environmental issues.
Haines, with the help of her director, Jim Simpson and The Bats, delivers a highly entertaining and witty portrayal of what the future may hold for us if we do not change our destructive habits. Her message is far from subtle and as the performance wraps up, a tinge of nervousness begins to emerge from the laughter.
At the end of the night, as I walked out into an unseasonably warm and balmy New York evening, I couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious about our future. Only a few days ago, 155 tornadoes swept across 14 states in 2 days. Perhaps Haines’ storyline is not so farfetched and maybe next time I’ll think twice before throwing away my take-out containers.
Future Anxiety runs until May 26, Tuesday through Saturday at 7pm and Saturday at 3pm. Tickets are $25 and are available by calling 212-352-3101 or online at www.theflea.org. Please also note: all Tuesday performances are Pay-What-You-Can, subject to availability at the door, only 1 ticket per person.
