Orchard Vale

Inspired in part by James Howard Kunstler’s dire “the suburbs are evil and doomed in the new century” jeremiad The Long Emergency, local musician Kinsella has made a grim little drama set in the decaying suburbs after society has collapsed. Five people are basically trapped in a condo (unseen gangs now rule the outside world), where they bicker, nap and muse upon their limbolike state. They’re held together by teenager Sophie (Walker, adopting the most annoyingly squeaky little-girl voice we have ever heard), who’s writing a whimsical fairy tale to keep her sanity. Frankly, it dragged for our taste, but there are some inventive passages depicting Sophie’s imagination.