If you were to write your own history of everything, what would you include? The election of Barack Obama or the 2016 rise of the alt-right? The discovery of penicillin or the detonation of the first atomic bomb? Would you favor the invention of the printing press over the creation of the first contraceptive pill?
In A History of Everything, the teens of Cry Havoc tell the story of humanity as they see it, highlighting the cyclical nature of the world and the ongoing human struggle to find meaning in life. Based on the 2012 production by Ontroerend Goed and Sydney Theatre Company.
For 14 days Cry Havoc Theater Company artistic director Mara Richards Bim worked with seven female and six male actors from seven high schools. They created and rehearsed from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. The result was the 70-minute play, A History of Everything, currently playing at the Margo Jones Theatre in Fair Park.
Walking into the Margo Jones space feels like entering a rehearsal space. To the left is an assortment of props, seemingly endless, that have been methodically assembled and organized by Korey Parker. Scrawled butcher block paper scrolls across the walls, present but not particularly noticeable, certainly not legible. The floor is covered with a map of the world that is covered with raised clues of a sort to what will transpire. Lori Honeycutt (technical director) has designed a set that both confirms the what and inserts question marks about the how.