Stories in the Dust – Greenwich Theatre, London

Writers: Iona Johnson & Anna Harriott

Director: Russ Tunney

Iona Johnson and Anna Harriott perform their own devised piece, the story of a couple making their way through a post-apocalyptic wasteland, heading West to find The Blue. They perform it to audiences of age five and upwards. They pull no punches. There are echoes of Riddley Walker, there are notes of the Mad Max franchise, but above all, this is Cormac McCarthy’s The Road for littleys.

It is really simple and really ambitious. There isn’t any sugar-coating on their tale of survival and desperate want. Stories in the Dust discusses hope that is more notional than realisable and a striving for survival that places almost intolerable strains on their relationship. And yet… and yet….

The two performers are friendly and approachable; there is joy in their friendship, they play sweet music and sing pretty songs together and it makes them happy. Without making it too much of a plot spoiler, there is a lovely sub-text story involving a tomato that is celebratory and a bit magical.

The design team of Orpheus Alexander and Rachel Bayton have created a palace of junk for the two actors to bring alive. They create very animated puppets out of rubbish, they give enormous symbolic weight to two shopping trolleys joined (and sometimes separated) to make their transport. Their situation is desperate, but they have a lot of fun, and so does their audience.

The show finishes on a pleasingly up-beat note, but never forgets its core message that global warming is real and desperate and needs to be addressed. Will five year olds respond to this? Who knows? Five year olds are rarely confronted with eco-catastrophe quite as boldly.

They will enjoy the flute and the puppets and the story-telling, they will respond to the charm of the performers and they will like seeing pretty things made out of rubbish. Maybe they will have their consciousnesses raised as a bonus, maybe their carers will. It isn’t a preachy show, it’s just very brave, very up-front, and very good.

Reviewed on 15 October 2023 and continues to tour