Review: Bleached, Etcetera Theatre

The human experience is inevitably marked by love: love for our families, our friends, our partners, our dreams. Most of us long to love deeply before the end. But when the end is staring you in the face, how do you act? What do you reach for? What do you hope to feel before time runs out? Set in a world disturbingly close to our own – on the brink of extinction – Bleached holds up a mirror to how we’re living, and to the devastating consequences we twist ourselves into knots to ignore.

Written by Laura Collins and directed by Tobias Abbott, this is a dark comedy set in a strikingly plausible near-future Earth facing climate collapse. With rising oceans, sealed borders, and a rat infestation unlike anything the world has seen, the play follows a group of Australian tourists (Alice Pryor, Rose Adams, Timothy Dennett, Estelle Cousins) scrambling to experience everything they can before it’s too late. Each character clings to their own personal bucket list – seeing the Northern Lights, volunteering, escaping a dead-end marriage, chasing sexual fantasies – in a desperate attempt to outrun the clock.

What emerges is a smart, original, and deeply human take on climate anxiety. By centring on flawed, often selfish characters, Bleached becomes less about ecological disaster itself and more about the ways we live, deny, and distract ourselves in its shadow. The threat of destruction is ever-present but scarcely named, echoing the way many of us confront crises: by ignoring the inevitable and clinging to fleeting meaning in the now. The show is both funny and uncomfortable, confronting the audience with the unsettling possibility that our generation may be leaving behind a substanceless legacy – one defined by passive-aggressive relationships, curated social media posts, and a scramble for quick, consumable experiences over lasting, meaningful ones. As one of the characters perfectly describes it, it’s a generation of “form without substance”.

The performances are energetic, layered, and consistently engaging. With frequent time jumps and multi-roling, the cast handles complex shifts with clarity and commitment. Though the beginning feels somewhat disorienting, the actors gradually guide us into each character’s world, and as the narrative unfolds, their nuanced portrayals help anchor the emotional stakes.

With minimal costume changes and props, the production leans on suitcases, lighting, and sound design to signal shifts in time and place. Abbott’s sound design is a standout; thoughtful, original, and immersive, it deftly draws the audience into the characters’ fractured reality. The lighting, while well executed, occasionally leaves the actors in darkness, slightly undercutting their work.

Transitions between scenes are mostly blackouts accompanied by location-based soundscapes and are less successful. While these shifts don’t completely disrupt the flow thanks to strong performances and compelling audio, they feel repetitive and at times jarring. The show spends a lot of its runtime in blackout, which risks disengaging the audience. With a little creativity, these transitions could be shaped into something more dynamic, even poetic, linking the stories together or revealing more of the crisis’s invisible impact.

The pacing early on is uneven, with jokes occasionally missing and some mismatched energy among the cast. However, once the performers settle in, the rhythm clicks into place, leading to a confident, emotionally resonant second half.

Bleached is a funny, daring, and thought-provoking piece that invites us to confront the very questions we work hardest to avoid. With a few structural refinements, it has the potential to become something truly unforgettable: a theatrical reckoning for a generation in freefall.

Written by Laura Collins
Directed by Tobias Abbott
Sound and Lighting Design by Tobias Abbott
A Talking Bird Production in association with Frisson Collective.

Bleached has completed its run at the Etcetera Theatre