What comes before _{by Madelaine Empson}

Many movies, books, and works of art imagine the end of times, exploring how we humans might respond to a cataclysmic comet shooting through our sky or an earthquake ripping up the ground beneath our feet. But what about if we knew the world was ending… just not yet?

Ruby Kemp’s brand-new sci-fi musical, presented by Wellington Footlights Society from the 3^rd to the 12^th of April at Gryphon Theatre, “isn’t a show about the apocalypse”, the writer and composer says. “It’s about what comes before.”

“Solarise mainly takes place four years after the worldwide announcement of impending doom, moving back and forth in time to show how the characters got to where they are now, as a nod to a lot of real-world calamities that fade to the back of the public consciousness over time”, Kemp explains.

So, what would you do if you knew humanity had less than a decade left? Kemp, of course, pondered the question a fair bit while writing the musical, which began as a series of voice notes she recorded on her phone. While on the one hand she’d travel the world, “possibly be a little reckless and break some rules”, she reckons in reality she’d “make a lot of art”.

With a stellar cast and crew bringing Solarise to life, Kemp’s main hope is the premiere season “encourages people to consider what really matters to them, and inspires them to pursue that dream before they discover time has run out”.