Aurora: A Modern Myth review

Day is ending. Dusk is closing in. The sunset casts a burnished glow on to the stark, bare branches of a solitary tree. The deepening gloom is lit by thousands of stars in a patchwork of constellations – some familiar, others not. In his new, multilayered play directed by Emma Jordan, Dominic Montague highlights not only the wonders of the natural world but also the mounting threats to it from climate change and corporate greed. The arguments swirl around Ciaran Bagnall’s stylised, central tree motif, whose vibrant, constantly changing inner life is the result of his collaboration with a team of animators and gaming designers.

The attachment of local girl Cass (Meghan Tyler) to the tree is visceral and instinctive. It has been, since childhood, her soulmate; her refuge in times of trouble, her anchor to home. As a ruthless, multinational mining corporation closes in on its plan to exploit the seams of gold running beneath its tangled roots, Cass plots a solo protest by chaining herself to its trunk and releasing a nightly podcast called Tree Watch. Her nerdy pal Drew (Thomas Finnegan) remains unconvinced of its feasibility and fearful of the unseen dangers that may befall her lonely, nocturnal vigil.

Through her deep-seated connection to nature and its self-healing powers, Cass calls on the miracle of the aurora borealis. Realising that its rare appearance over her native soil will draw large crowds, she identifies an opportunity to thwart the ambitions of the mining company, personified by the unlikely figure of her brother Conn (Conor O’Donnell).  But it appears that she has failed. We find her banged up in an interrogation cell, where she is questioned by a grim-faced investigating officer (Maria Connolly) and about to be charged with social disruption and civic disorder – not to mention the small matter of a missing gold delivery.

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