Written by Isla Cowan

Directed by Steve Small

Every day starts with the same routine: wake up, get ready for school, learn, stress, learn some more, then stress some more. But in their spare time, Cassie makes sure to tidy the beach of debris at the end of the school day while Claire watches on – here for the ride, not so much the journey.

The third piece from the Strange Town Touring Theatre company, part of their The Future is Unwritten series, which has already found tremendous success with the critically acclaimed Her and the award-nominated Storm Lantern, brings a new piece on the climate anxieties which dominate the lives of two young women, Claire, and Cassie. And…And…And… by playwright, Isla Cowan manages to wrangle two of the most pressing issues the world faces: climate catastrophe and social inequalities. Both are juggernauts to tackle, but remarkably offer a dexterous and intelligent insight into both through the eyes of the future and make for a precious piece of new theatre to present to new minds already embracing and open to change.

Cassie recognises from an early age the impact that we’ve had on our planet and the continued erasure of the future from large-scale companies and their wasteful attitudes to plastic pollution. While Claire can see this too, the overwhelming concerns of simply surviving in this harsh and cruel world make it difficult to see beyond surviving tomorrow, let alone in a decade’s time. Cowan expertly captures that just as kids have always done, new generations of school children are worrying about their parent’s finances, their educations, and their futures, but now – they have a worry which encompasses us all: our planet.

With a strikingly inventive set which encompasses the space from Katie Innes, And…And…And… bolsters the makings of an important and long-living production which, sadly, will likely become more pertinent as the years fall. The world is a plaything for our performers Caroline McKeown and Tiana Milne-Wilson, the pair of which have immediate chemistry – the question of this being a life-long friendship entirely believable with two engaging and well-developed lead performances. The ball is rolling inside Cassie’s mind: bright, reliable, and determined to make it to Law School while also saving the planet. And McKeown’s exasperatingly intense performance fuels an ouroboros of its own creation: so panicked and anxious over the very plastic son her skin that it all endlessly ensnares them – their performance growing more and more physically intense with every passing second.

For Claire, Milne-Wilson is likely the more familiar voice which grapples with the cruel natures of the present societal plague of austerity. For her, the day-to-day survival trumps that of the long-away troubles of climate change. However, the harsh truth of its quickening pace is something Claire begins to realise. Milne-Wilson’s is a naturally sophisticated performance, which turns to the production humour and lifts some of the more obscure of more commonplace jokes into a familiar sense of chat and comradery.

The truth of the production’s principal narrative – of lowering our abusive and self-mutilating obsession with throw-away plastics and false-green initiatives is, by no stretch, new. But the vim and implementation into a new generation from Cowan punches the production’s success into new heights. And…And…And… is directed by Steve Small with a strong will and clear mind, taking no prisoners with its precise and canny writing from Cowan, deftly crafted for new minds (and refreshing to those still not listening).

Towards the climax, a shift in dimension strays the production into a meta-narrative serving as a breaking moment of humour – even rubbing salt into the wound of just how thoughtless our plastic consumption is, but its implementation needs to be tweaked. It enables a visceral response from McKeown’ and pries open the theatrical experience into new dimensions, but it does stilt the slice of the show which closes it out after – dragged down by the jarring, and potentially better, false finale.

Deftly balancing two enormous elements of injustice within the world, Cowan strikes precarious but remarkably skilled precision within And…And…And… which, while ensuring it speaks to all audiences, undeniably captures a youthful significance. The show’s natural chemistry and firm grasp of the scale of the situation form a striking and marvellous new production from Strange Town; one touring to schools across Edinburgh, but should quite rightly be seen in schools, venues and party-political conferences across the nation: a vital, and riveting piece.