Frozen West: Science Fiction, Literally

Hey, most of you know I write, watch, and read a lot of science fiction - not always as much in that order as I would like - so I was especially pleased to see Frozen West at The Duke on 42nd Street last night, one of six short plays which are semi-finalists in the New York New Works (NYNW) Theatre Festival, all of which were excellent.  Now, Frozen West may not be what you or I usually expect when the genre of science fiction comes up - because this short play is about something which is not only possible but scientifically real, right now.  Frozen West is, in other words, literally a work of fiction about science - or, literally science fiction.

The science which today is real and indeed has been so since 1967 is cryonics, or the deep freezing of human bodies after death with a view to reviving them at some point in the future, when our descendants discover a way of unthawing without damage and curing the illness that killed the frozen deceased.  Wikipedia says that as of 2014 there are about 250 people in such "suspended" (not dead!, as one of the characters in Frozen West, Dana, keeps insisting), including baseball great Ted Williams (but not Walt Disney or Robert Heinlein, contrary to the urban legends that they are frozen).

The action  in Frozen West - actually, talk, not action - takes place in a cold room, with six (I think) frozen heads (a cheapo option for those who opt for the freeze), where the room's caretaker, the aforementioned Dana, converses about cryonics and the nature of life and the world with a new acquaintance, Naomi.  Both parts are well played.  But Naomi delivers the funniest lines, makes the best faces, and Maggie Dunleavy (who also directed) animates the role with a special spunk and style.

Davis Alianiello is the playwright, and he's given us a sometimes laugh-out-loud, philosophically rich clip of banter, that captures the state of life in the 21st century.

 

It all started in the hot summer of 1960, when Marilyn Monroe walked off the set of The Misfits and began to hear a haunting song in her head, "Goodbye Norma Jean" ...

See also my reviews of the other NYNW semi-finalists:  Max & Domino ...  The Lady in the Woods ... Dear Diary, Burning Leaves, Sammy and Esther Are Breaking Up