Chronic
Synopsis:
Chronic is about the ancient dance of sickness - our attraction and revulsion to viruses of all kinds. The central character is Petra, a web designer who works with a small IT company. One day she opens a file, and dreams a creature who may or may not be a virus. He kisses her. The virus moves between computer and bloodstream, replicating his endless desires. Health deserts her, but she doesn't die. From then on, her boyfriend, her doctor, her best friend and even her boss, become involved in an environmental petrie dish of postindustrial madness.
"Pushing practitioners to be inventive, facing the complexities of harrowing stories, finding ways to balance the seriousness of their ideas with humour, each of these plays (Linda Griffiths' Chronic, Sally Clark's Wanted, Marie Clement's The Unnatural and Accidental Woman) demonstrates the assuredness and technical skills of talented, mid career playwrights pushing themselves to tell difficult stories which fully exploit the language of theatre. "
Kirsty Johnson, Canadian Literature 191/ Winter 2006
