Welcome to downtown Anchorage. It’s a spectacular Good Friday morning for the 1964 Fur Rendezvous, a festival to mark the end of winter and celebrate the pioneering spirit of Alaska.
Local radio reporter Genie Chance has been dispatched to cover the parade, another mundane assignment, but she hopes to get the real story of what and who is kicking in this rapidly modernising frontier town.
She yearns to be treated as a serious journalist, but is relegated to minor news while juggling social pressures and babysitting not only her feverish child but the station’s enthusiastic but feckless teenage intern, Dom.
Everything is about to be jolted by the largest earthquake in American history, putting that trailblazing boldness to the test. As the ground lurches and rolls streets crack open and swallow buildings whole. Anchorage goes dark and silent.
Only Genie can take the lead, calmly guiding Dom and his choir mate Katherine to keep the show on the air, telling the public what has happened and what to do. Her efforts to get to the heart of the recovery effort headed by a vacationing military General are initially thwarted by a “no women” rule but she perseveres, challenging his protocols to gain his grudging respect. She will learn that information has consequences and that some things might be just too big to share.
The story, based on true life events, sees an eccentric cast of characters thrown into a jumbled world as the try to put their fractured community back together. A two-hander, the parts are played with frenetic speed marked by the swift change of accent, a coat, hat or scarf – Genie resolute, the General gruff and Dom and Katherine endearingly eager in keeping people engaged with bogus appearances of The Beatles and charades on the radio.
It's inventively and lovingly told, with an almost radio play aesthetic, and while the wild multi-rolling takes time to adapt to it builds to a heartening conclusion aided by faultless performances, excellent direction and high production values.
It might be hard to distinguish truth over misinformation but there is hope, and there is Chance.
Show Times: 30 July – 24 August (not 12) 2025 at 2.10pm. (Captioned 15).
Tickets: £10 to 13 (£12) and £15 (£14).
Suitability: 12+ (Note - This show contains distressing or potentially triggering themes. The show contains loud noises, flashing lights, haze and a period of extended darkness).