Deep History

Run Time:
70 minutes, no intermission

Closing: October 27, 2024

Deep History - 2024 Off-Broadway History , Info & More

Creative History Photos More to Do

Public Theater [Susan Stein Shiva Theater]

425 Lafayette Street New York, NY

Run Type Limited Run

Market Off-Broadway

Previews October 05, 2024

At the end of 2019, in the English countryside, Australian playwright David Finnigan began writing a play about the six turning points that have brought us to this moment in time—our ecosystems transformed, our planet on the brink of unthinkable climate disaster. But then Finnigan's hometown of Canberra was hit by bushfires. As an area the size of England burned and one billion animals perished, he started to receive texts from loved ones racing to evacuate amid the devastation.

In a performance that interweaves 75,000 years of humanity with the incredibly personal account of his best friend’s escape, Finnigan calls on scientific research, phone footage, and a very personal story to illuminate the transforming planet and how we’ve arrived here. An extraordinary ride through human history, DEEP HISTORY is shot through with humor and glowing with hope.

FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Deep History

Deep History Review. The Climate Crisis is Here.

From: New York Theater By: Jonathan Mandell Date: 2024-10-11

7 / 10

Running parallel to Finnigan’s explication of thousands of years of human history is a moment-by-moment account of out-of-control fires in 2019 surrounding his hometown of Canberra that threatened his best friend and his family. This didn’t really achieve the tension and suspense that it was clearly meant to inject into “Deep History.” But it did not need to; members of the audience already have tension aplenty from the current news reports full of climate emergencies.

Deep History: Can We Survive Climate Change?

From: New York Stage Review By: Michael Sommers Date: 2024-10-13

6 / 10

Opening on Thursday in the 99-seat Shiva space at the Public Theater, Deep History initially registers more like an absorbing illustrated lecture than a dramatic performance, as Finnigan reflects upon the ways humanity has somehow survived ice ages, volcanoes, plagues and other natural catastrophes. Finnigan vows to be “optimistic and constructive and forward looking” about how to successfully face up to dangerous climate change. “Survival is possible,” he asserts, scrawling that phrase in magic marker on a sheet of brown paper pinned to a board. Finnigan later adds another note, “Not everyone will make it.”