Review by Sonia Roberts
A musical about climate change that feels more campy than agenda-driven, The Civilians’ The Great Immensity at The Public Theater follows Phyllis’s (Rebecca Hart) quest to find her Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker husband, Karl (Chris Sullivan) when he disappears on a work trip to the Panama Canal. Karl is tired of his work on Shark Week being edited for entertainment value, his network considering the truths he’s uncovering to be too depressing for their audience. He’s looking for a bold, new way to make a statement that will actually incite change, and he finds his opportunity after meeting Julie (a fantastic Erin Wilhelmi), a teenage Earth Ambassador searching for a revolution of her own to make a splash at the upcoming Global Climate Summit in Paris.
THIS IS MY HOMETOWN DETROIT
THEY USED TO BUILD CARS HERE
THAT MADE THE COUNTRY RICH
WITH ALL THE OIL FROM…
THIS IS A PICTURE OF
A PICTURE OF
A PICTURE OF
Mimi Lien’s beautifully simple, transformative set fluidly takes us from one location to the next with support from Jeff Croiter’s lighting and Jason H. Thompson’s projections. The live video feed projected, as Karl interviews his subjects on his journey, is an especially effective design element, allowing for the close-ups usually not available in the theater.
All the twists and turns lead to an astonishing ending, a bit unbelievable, but fitting, as Karl and Julie are looking “to find that switch in the head of every person in the world and turn it on,” a mission that calls for drastic action, which asks if The Civilians have the same mission with The Great Immensity, and if so, how effective, in their eyes, this story is.
*Photos: Richard Termine
THE GREAT IMMENSITY
at The Public Theater
425 Lafayette Street
Running through May 1st
Tickets at www.publictheater.org