Gracie and the Start of the End of the World (Again)

Edinburgh Fringe – Assembly

Have you ever wondered how sea creatures must feel about the destruction of their ecosystems? Well, Zoë Bullock’s Gracie and the Start of the End of The World (Again) might just answer that question. It’s a creative and funny story that balances the humour and devastating throughout.

The scene starts as Gracie (Bullock) heads out in the open ocean alone to find love and someone who appreciates her love of humans. After a slight mishap at a convention, she meets ‘Zak’ (Josh Whitlaw), a turtle who opens her up to a new way of thinking. 

There’s elements to this show that of course, raise questions if thought about logically, but Bullock encourages us to suspend our disbelief to the point where we buy into it although some things stretch into the implausible. This is a show that skilfully navigates between fact and fiction, drawing on different areas of reality and creating an almost Hans Christian-esque fairytale (with Gracie as a real-life Little Mermaid). 

“truly terrific”

Bullock creates these colourful personifications of these different sea creatures that are highly entertaining to see come alive onstage, and helps us visualize the world beyond the sea. It’s a really creative concept. In the way that it highlights our own fallibility and tendency to create divisions to fight amongst ourselves, Grace and The Start of the End of the World (Again) is so cleverly written that it becomes a sort of fable, wrapping analysis of human nature in an unassuming wrapping.

This is a one-woman show, so a lot of the time, Bullock is acting and reacting to nothing except what she can create through the power of pure imagination. She paints a really vivid picture to the point where we feel the stakes, the emotional gut-punches as they come. Bullock is truly terrific in this show and apart from the messaging within its depths, it is just really fun. Gracie’s such a likable character that we’re on her side throughout this, ride or die no matter what. 

Gracie and the Start of the End of the World (Again) is a fascinating concept that is so well-executed that we don’t feel the hour pass. It’s such a well-written and acted piece of theatre that we can’t help but wonder what will happen next after the show ends.  Hopefully there will be some fanfiction to fill in the gaps to tell us what happens.

By Katerina Partolina Schwartz

Photo Credit: Brendan Swift