PANIC
EVERYTHING'S FINE
I haven’t looked at photos yet.
Simply can’t bring myself to.
What end would that serve?
It would just be upsetting.
I don’t want to be upset.
It’s far, far, far, far, far away.
An everyday disruption at the center of New York City ripples out across the globe in a rapidly-worsening obstacle course of disaster, barreling the planet into an absurd apocalypse. Inspired by Umberto Eco’s La Nueva Edad Media, Panic Everything’s Fine follows an absurdist destruction of civilization at human hands.
Panic Everything's Fine began as a reaction to the 2016 election, responding to the anxiety manifested by the 24-hour news cycle and the rapidly declining world around us. It asks, “how do we survive in a decaying world?” A patchwork of characters struggle to cope with the impending disaster as we probe how to logistically and psychologically survive amidst the chaos of overwhelming global disaster.
We began by deconstructing the Judeo-Christain apocalypse myth of the four horsemen; War, Death, Plague, and Famine. This myth tells that the simultaneous presence of the Four Horsemen signals the end of the world. In a small society, such as that of the early Christians, the manifestation of these four disasters truly would have been an end to their world. Yet, in our contemporary, global society, these harbingers are always present. There is always war and famine; people kill each other daily, and we are currently living through a pandemic reaching all corners of the globe. According to the myth of the Four Horsemen, the end is nigh.
Panic Everything’s Fine was developed with support from SITI Company/Anne Bogart, under the mentorship of SITI Company and its directors as part of their SITI Lab residency,and through a funded rehearsal and performance residency at Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA.
The play premiered as a part of the opening season of The Tank NYC’s new 36th Street Theatre in October 2017.
DEVELOPED BY
The SuperGeographics
DIRECTED BY
Jonathan Taikina Taylor
STAGE MANAGER
Miranda Park
SOUND DESIGN
David Lewallen
Kristian Sorensen
LIGHTING DESIGN
Emily Bearce
COSTUME DESIGN
Elonna Bettini
PERFORMED BY
Dante Belletti
Persia Blue
Caitlin George
Kristian Sorensen