[title]
Imagine the not-too-distant future: atheism reigns, and the faithful have been massacred in their millions. Those left behind have few options: persecution and imprisonment, or attendance at Believers Anonymous – a 12-step programme complete with custard creams, sharing sessions and uncomfortable orange plastic chairs.
It's a compelling premise, handled with insight and precision by writer Cordelia Lynn and director Holly Race Roughan for the impressive young new-writing company Strip Theatre. Effectively, Lynn presents us first with the familiar – the grubby hall; the motley group of individuals – and then drip-feeds us the unfamiliar and disturbing: the outlawing of all religion by the sinister 'Great Global Society'.
Each of the eight members of the group – from Joanne (Keisha Amponsa Banson), an evangelical Christian turned bullying group leader; to Mary (Tamsin Topolski), a nervy Catholic still clinging to her rosary – represents a different religion.
It's to the credit of the razor-sharp writing and the excellent performances that the characters never feel like stereotypes. In particular, Nick Finegan shines as Terry, a disturbed young man convinced only of 'the more' that lies beyond human existence.
The play builds to a tense crescendo, and its thought-provoking examination of the necessity of belief will linger long in your mind, whatever your credo.