Eco-comedy stage play by George M. Johnson
performed by Chimera Theatre Company, Pavilion Theatre, Kamloops, June 2023
In this eco-comedy, late-blooming boomer JAMES BROWN (not that one!) impulsively quits his job as a used car salesman. After his wife CYNTHIA throws him out for again failing to consult and refusing to sell a dirt ranch he has inherited, he takes a quirky route to win back her love. He forms a retirement commune with his former Intensive Care high school rock band mates to impress her by returning to their youthful ideals of living off the land in peace, love, and general groovy-ness. The group must overcome past conflicts and work communally, using their rock music (and with a little help from unwanted friends) to triumph over the dark force of a multi-national mining company threatening to expropriate their land. James’s newfound integrity and caring wins over his wife. This is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel meets Dark Waters. Retirement Rebellion. With rock music.
Boomerangst deals with issues we face right in our backyard, as well as across the country and abroad. The story is actually based on actual events when a multi-national mining company tried to develop a massive open-pit gold and copper mine just south of Kamloops, an initiative that divided our city (and the threat has not ended). “We are caught between a rock and a hard place” as the show song, No Mine Land says, since multi-nationals are impinging on our lives, whether it be to alter the landscape for a mine, a pipeline, or a dam, and yet we continue to demand their energy and/or products. What can we do about this paradox? We have tough decisions to make, but we need to communicate and work together to solve the greatest existential threat of climate change.
The next step in this project’s evolution is a T.V. Series which finds the communards living next door to red-neck End of Life vehicle entrepreneurs. It tries to bridge the divide between progressive eco-conscious folks and resource extraction-based folks.
