★★★☆☆
On an unseasonably warm, wet, almost-winter’s night, we are appropriately at New Theatre’s production of writer Bess Wohl’s much-performed play Continuity.
Directed with verve by Sahn Millington, it’s light and frothy and funny but with a sober message. Unlike the artificial world of a movie set, where continuity is a form of control, of fixing things in place, in the real world, continuity is survival requiring continual adaptation.
It’s a message that unfortunately tends to get a little lost in Wohl’s minestrone soup of ideas, some of which cohere and others…not so much. But we’re here for the chaos, we’re here for the fun, and this production delivers that.
We’re on a film set watching another take of a pivotal life-or-death encounter in an Arctic eco-disaster movie. Where better to produce this film about the end of the world than… Melbourne? Not quite. It’s New Mexico because…tax breaks. Blisteringly hot.
The film has been rewritten 17 times so that it no longer resembles what it once was. The only thing melting faster than the fake ice is the sanity of cast and crew as they struggle to complete the day’s shoot before they lose the light. Not quite the end of the world, but Geostorm adjacent.
Everyone on set is caught up in their own problems, epitomised by prima-donna Nicole (Jessica Joseph-McDermott). Fresh out of rehab but maintaining a lingering love of, er, snow, she insists on rewrites and special treatment.
Her co-star Jake (Andrew McLaughlin) is beginning to believe his eco-terrorist character George might actually be on to something – killing millions for the (Hot Fuzz vibes) “greater good” of making climate change actionably real to people.
Director Maria (Michelle Robin Anderson) won Sundance, and this is her chance with a big budget, though she is increasingly anxious as each take is worse than the previous.
Sahn Millington has an excellent handle on proceedings, keeping the pace going and skilfully blocking a sizeable onstage cast. There are a lot of moving parts, and opening night nerves had everything feeling a little rushed and shouty.
Similarly, the acting was a little uneven. However, with a few more performances, it will settle, and as everyone relaxes into their roles, the comedic elements will be sharper.
The more established actors found their rhythm and consistency quickly. Nick Curnow is excellent as David – flawless accent and impeccable timing. He has good chemistry with Anderson, whose frustration as Maria is nicely judged.
Rarely has ‘sciencey’ exposition sounded funnier than in the hands of Susan Jordan, which it has to, because her character Laurie is absurd. Joseph-McDermott provides stereotypical Nicole with needed depth and nuance.
As PA, Julie Quinn reveals good visual comedy skills, as does Sarah Nader dying (and dying again) as Dr Anna Gerber. McLaughlin, wobbly accent notwithstanding, has a dynamic presence as a deep-thinking, but also slightly dim, Gen Z-er.
The simple ‘set within a set’ by David Marshall-Martin comprises a sheer curtain suspended from a semi-circular rail, some rock props and a ‘snow-blower’. A Styrofoam rock’s fragility becomes (surprisingly) a funny recurring joke. The curtain enhances some cool lighting effects from Julian Dunne, and Chloe Callow’s sound design effectively conveys the feel of a film set.
Leaving aside its light satire of Hollywood filmmaking, I do question whether this play is preaching to the converted. Because, unless you’ve been living under a rock, and to be fair, a sizable proportion of the Australian political class still does, we know the science, we know the potential outcomes.
Logical inconsistencies in the script don’t help. In particular, the contrary behaviour of the main characters who simultaneously have a deep interest in climate change and are seemingly gobsmacked by the possibility that humanity is already doomed, because of climate change. Don’t they read?
Continuity argues that good science doesn’t usually make for good art. Good science is an accretion of facts leading to a sober conclusion, not a melodrama. Of course, this makes it difficult for writers to dramatise human civilisation ‘losing the light,’ as it were.
The final act also shows us how much easier it is to empathise with an individual confronting a personal end-of-days than a creeping catastrophe that threatens entire societies. We simply have to remember that societies are merely collections of people just like ourselves.
Coming in at a tight 80 minutes, Continuity is a solid inclusion in New Theatre’s 2026 season. Funny and well performed, it’s worth a trip down King Street, raining or not.
Continuity runs to 20 June at New Theatre, 542 King Street Newtown NSW 2081.
Tickets: https://aunewtheatre.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/156911
Website: https://newtheatre.org.au/continuity/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/newtheatresydney/
Photo credits: Bob Seary
