A Haunting Climate Manifesto at Theatre Passe Muraille

Coleen Shirin MacPherson's "Erased," playing at Theatre Passe Muraille, opens with a scene reminiscent of Apple TV+'s "Severance." Three women, Margie, Grace, and René, work on an assembly line, illustrating greeting cards under harsh fluorescent lights and a deafening industrial buzz. Their conversations are banal, their days blurring into one another due to a daily amnesia.

the climate crisis looms, capitalism threatens civilization, and dissent is punished. But "Erased" takes a captivating turn when the women begin to disappear, replaced by spectral figures observing them from the balconies.

MacPherson's writing evolves into a visceral ballet for the bodies lost to corporate greed. The unnamed greeting card plant could easily be an Amazon fulfillment center or a Shein factory. The play's reality is chillingly close to our own.

While the play's music, by Amy Nostbakken, creates an eerie atmosphere, the songs occasionally veer into an awkward no-man's-land of not-quite musical theatre. The visual world-building, however, is provocative and jagged, punctuated by moments of choral movement and primal dance sequences.

"Erased" explodes into an apocalyptic climax, leaving a lasting impression with its big ideas and haunting imagery. The play's placeless void, set loosely in the future, feels derivative of other climate-focused works, but the conditions depicted are tragically real, echoing the horrors of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.

As a script, "Erased" evokes Caryl Churchill's "Far Away," and while MacPherson's direction elevates the play, the latter arguably remains the stronger work. Nonetheless, in our current climate of impending doom, "Erased" serves as a powerful call to action. With its brisk 90-minute runtime and limited run until November 30th, "Erased" demands to be seen before it's too late.