"Moving is like a heart transplant. Don't do it unless you have to."
May and everyone she knows live on an island that is sinking into the sea. Yet, no one will listen to her and leave. Not her twin sister, her fiancé, or anyone else. The ghost of May's grandmother haunts and mocks her while drinking martinis.
Everyone agrees that the island is a wonderful place to live. They would rather chase ostriches and build floating gardens than acknowledge waking up in puddles or fish falling from above.
But May starts sinking herself. Lower and lower, as the world moves around her, she finds she cannot or does not want to pull herself out.
When an unexpected visitor arrives and mistakes May's sinking for a political protest, she makes it one: a movement so everyone will leave the island. But as she continues to sink lower, she struggles to know what she can do to make any difference at all.
Poetic, playful, and pressing, a modern myth that asks: how do we stand on a sinking world and maintain hope?
Keywords: poetic, magic realism, myth, environmental, mental health, ghost
First produced by Here For Now Theatre, Stratford ON, May/June 2026
Genre: Dark Comedy
Acts: 1
Run time: 85 minutes
Suitable for students 16+
Cast size: 5 actors
Male roles: 1
Female roles: 4
Casting notes: There are twins in this play but they should not look alike. They can be different races.
"Drawing inspiration from playwrights like Sarah Ruhl and Samuel Beckett, playwright Julia Lederer combines elements of surrealism with dark comedy to create a narrative that is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking."
- Sierra Club, Dallas
