THE LAST QUIZ NIGHT ON EARTH
MAR 29 - APR 13
"...too much fun to miss!"
“THE LAST QUIZ NIGHT ON EARTH delights with fun-filled flair, " Patricia L. Morin, Front Row Review
The Last Quiz Night on Earth by Alison Carr
Directed by Jenny Hollingworth and Argo Thompson
An asteroid is heading straight for the earth, tonight. What better way to take your mind off impending doom than Quiz Night at the Four Horsemen pub with your friendly hosts Kathy and Rav?
The Last Quiz Night on Earth takes place in The California Theatre bar, where audiences can buy drinks, form teams, and compete in a real-life pub quiz. Meanwhile, Kathy and Rav play the music, ask the questions, and settle some old scores, all just in time before the world ends.
Playwright
Alison Carr
Alison Carr is a playwright and radio dramatist. Her plays include: The Last Quiz Night on Earth (Box of Tricks, UK tour, 2020); Caterpillar (shortlisted for the Theatre503 Playwriting Award 2016; premiered at Theatre503, London, 2018) and Iris (Live Theatre, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 2016; winner of the Journal Culture Awards 2017 Writer of the Year).
Directors
JENNY HOLLINGWORTH
Jenny has directed for multiple small theater companies across the Bay Area. Her production of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal won the Silicon Valley Small Theatre Award for Standout Adult Contemporary Drama (2012) and her direction of Pinter's The Birthday Party led to her nomination for Best Director, Theatre Bay Area Awards (2014). She previously directed Native Gardens and Dry Powder for Left Edge Theatre, and is currently board president for The California.
ARGO THOMPSON
Argo is the Chief Eternal Optimist of the California Theatre of Santa Rosa, and founding artistic director of Left Edge Theatre. He is a fourth generation Santa Rosa who loves all things Sonoma County. He has directed and produced over 100 shows locally. Favorites include A Steady Rain, Drumming with Anubis, Angels in America, The Realistic Joneses, Good People, Elf, AIRNESS and Finding Nemo.
Last Quiz Night - Directors’ Notes
The original production of Last Quiz Night was set in a pub in Manchester, England in 2020. As the world was about to end, people gathered in the local pub for a trivia night. Our version is set in the present in Chicago – not coincidentally a city twinned with Manchester – where the world is once again about to end, and once again people gather, for a trivia night, for comfort, for companionship, and even for a last-ditch search for love.
One of the hilarious things about this play is the way the characters, even in the face of impending doom, get caught up in the trivia of life. Whether they are discussing who’s on Facebook or trying to remember the answers to the quiz, they are easily distracted from the awful event that’s about to happen. Great writers through the ages have remarked on man’s inability to look into what Samuel Beckett called the ‘abyss.’ As the human-like dog in the Pixar movie UP likes to say, “Squirrel!”
Perhaps on some high moral ground being easily distracted is a flaw, but it’s also incredibly human. What’s also human is the overwhelming urge to come together, in good times and in bad, to share hope and laughter, no matter what lies ahead.
We sincerely hope that tonight will not be the end of the world. But whether it is or not, we are inexpressibly glad that you are choosing to share this time with us.
Jenny Hollingworth and Argo Thompson
CAST
PRODUCTION TEAM
Director -Jenny Hollingworth
Director - Argo Thompson
Artistic Lead - Serena Elize Flores
Stage Manager - Isabelle McLoone
Lighting Designer - Ryan Severt
LET Production Associate - Vicki Martinez