A number of old-style radio sets were dotted around the theatre, which, to be fair to this production, served a purpose beyond being period props. They were working radios, or at least working speakers, through which the pre-show music was being played. The play is set over a single night in 1964 in Alaska, when an earthquake, still the most powerful one recorded in North America, happened in the early evening. The play was, to the end, sparse on details of the earthquake itself, but this seemed to be a point that the production was making: there was little, in the moment, that could be known.
Genie Chance (1927-1998), as this show would have it, broadcasted periodically through the night, gleaning whatever information she could from the municipal building where General Whittaker was directing the local authorities’ response to the earthquake. Meanwhile, in the local radio station’s studio, Dom, an intern, has managed to talk a friend, Kathleen, into helping him improvise a live broadcast. Such is the chaos that Genie has no chance, as it were, having abruptly left the studio, radio equipment in hand, to do her outside broadcasts, to figure out for herself who Kathleen is before the ‘Kathleen and Dom Show’ is on air. There are no producers or directors for the radio show, and the end result is a series of games, quizzes and karaoke sessions, including a round of charades… on the radio.
All this – and more – sets up what is a surprisingly amusing account given the backdrop of an earthquake. The General’s (somewhat expected) desire for protocols and procedures is challenged by default by the local community, many of whom aren’t exactly sitting quietly in their front rooms awaiting further instructions. Between them, Ellie Jay Cooper and Robert Merriam take on a wide number of characters, though this isn’t quite the same as a wide range of them.
There’s a good amount of detail in the story. It’s billed as “Come From Away meets The Play That Goes Wrong”, though I would argue it’s more the former than the latter, the production capturing as it does the varied responses of those affected by the earthquake. An atmosphere of a confused, confusing and rapidly developing situation is successfully created in a show that is deliberately somewhat difficult to follow. Whiffs of nostalgia permeate the narrative: before the digital era and the ubiquity of social media and online content, there was a greater reliance, in the absence of anything else, on live radio broadcasts for the latest information. When a moral dilemma arises, the decision not to immediately release details about something potentially significant would, these days, be taken out of Chance’s hands, as going viral for likes and clicks is considered more important than being responsible. Food for thought in a largely enjoyable and briskly paced production.
Review by Chris Omaweng
In 1964, the city of Anchorage, Alaska, experienced the largest earthquake in US history. A part-time radio reporter, her teenage intern, a general on leave, a local hobbyist, and a whole host of other characters find themselves at the centre of a remarkable relief effort. Live on air, Genie Chance must take unimaginable risks to save her community – and her family – from chaos.
Based on the incredible true story of the Great Alaskan Earthquake, Down to Chance is a heartwarming portrait of a real-life hero and her community in crisis, with the whole world listening in.
Writer and Performer – Ellie Jay Cooper
Performer – Robert Merriam
Director, Co-Founder and Artistic Director – Caleb Barron
Producer and Executive Director – Elspeth Barron
DOWN TO CHANCE
Pleasance Theatre
22 April to 9 May 2026
