Multiple Bad Things

The setting is described in the program as a workplace at the end of the world – but what kind of workplace? Well, imagine that a multinational technology company has bought up Valhalla for warehouse space and a new fulfilment centre. Above and behind the stage is a kind of elongated portal through which we see billowing clouds, purple and pink, shot through with lightning. At centre stage, on a shimmering mat the same size and shape as the portal, there sits a great pile of gold scaffolding, which might be shelving or the frame for a rack of servers – or who knows what. Off to one side is a small desk with a computer, lamp, some papers and a small menagerie of plastic animal figurines.
The quartet of workers who run this corporate outpost on the other side of the abyss wander about in a desultory way, piecing the scaffold together or not, as they see fit. With their motley hi-vis uniforms, all pink and orange and peach, they look as if they have rolled across the burning rainbow bridge. Meanwhile, ominous noises echo through the great hall: thuds and hums and hollow reverberations, all of which seem unrelated to the scene before us, as if they were leakages from another world.
Continue reading for only $10 per month. Subscribe and gain full access to Australian Book Review. Already a subscriber? Sign in. If you need assistance, feel free to contact us.