In Event of Moone Disaster review – intimate epic hurtles from 1969 to 2055

Theatre503, London
Inspired by a speech to be read if Armstrong and Aldrin hadn't returned to Earth, Andrew Thompson's ambitious debut is a sprawling family drama

Andrew Thompson's ambitious debut is a multigenerational, interplanetary family drama of humanity's desire to conquer the universe but still have a place to call home. It considers the personal histories families construct for themselves and the grand narratives they wish could have been.

In 1969, a young Sylvia Moone watches the moon landing and longs for someone to sweep her off on an adventure. In 2017, she's a crotchety old woman, her memory failing, and her son and daughter-in-law are trying to conceive. In 2055, her granddaughter, also named Sylvia Moone, is preparing to become the first person to set foot on the Red Planet in a corporatised post-Brexit, post-Trump world.