Playwright’s Note

 

Certain Death and Other Considerations is a product of playing nicely with your friends. From our early days devising in a cheap rental in LA, to producing a professional premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe, we have all held this show in our arms and given it the very best of ourselves– just as we have done for each other. 

 

For me, Certain Death is a play about climate anxiety. More specifically, it’s a play about whether or not to have children in a doomed world. For others, it may be a play about friendship, or grief, or queerness, or marriage, or an imagined world in which we only have 80 years to live. All of these (and more) are valid and wonderful interpretations of the story.

 

My intention in writing this play was not to ring the alarm bells about climate change, nor to scare you into living any differently. If you’re anything like me, you’re scared enough already. My goal, rather, was to speak to the feeling of living on a planet that feels like it has a time limit. To share with you the spiny lump of dread I feel bumping around in my chest, and to hold yours, if I can, for about 70 minutes without intermission. If I get really lucky, I’ll get to make you laugh, too. 

 

At the risk of sounding like someone who wants to sell you essential oils, I hope you take from this play what you need today. Laugh when you feel like it, cry when you feel like it, extrapolate out to our lived experience, or don’t. Enjoy the show. We made it just for you. 

 

On behalf of the entire creative and devising team, thank you for joining us at Certain Death and Other Considerations. We are thrilled to share the end times with you.

 

– Eliza Frakes, playwright and co-director of Certain Death and Other Considerations