How the World Began

Sharp thoughtful and mysterious <i>How the World Began</i> is a powerful story about an outsider in a close-knit devastated community.<br/><br/>Susan a science teacher from Manhattan starts work in a small rural Kansas town that's been ripped apart by a tornado. When one of her pupils - the damaged articulate Micah - takes offence at an off-the-cuff remark about how life on Earth began Susan is thrown into an ethical firestorm about science and faith that leads to her fearing for her safety.<br/><br/>Casting light on the tension between religion and secular liberalism <i>How the World Began</i> explores the debate between creationism and evolution and how this is taught in schools. With hints of American classics like <i>Inherit the Wind</i> and <i>The Catcher in the Rye</i> the play traces the inexorable fatalistic momentum from a single casual act into an all-encompassing dispute. A dispute which then threatens the very foundations of a community still reeling from a colossal disaster. In addition to its relevant and complex themes the play is also about human psychology and what drives people to extreme ideological positions in times of duress.<br/><br/>With writing which is provocative moving and intelligent Catherine Trieschmann asks important questions alongside in-depth character studies. This shrewd and compassionate drama is astute perceptive and controversial.