The Life and Death of Almost Everybody – Firestation 101

A play by David Campton 1970.

As he tidies up an empty stage, the Sweeper is tempted to experiment with the magic power of the theatre—to create life through the exercise of imagination.

After a few preliminary tries in summoning up a rabbit, the Sweeper plunges ahead and creates a Young Man and a Young Woman.

Then, as even more characters are called for, events begin to go beyond his bewildered control and a sort of universal Aunt Harriet (whom he had not even thought of) pops up to marshal the diverse cast into a hedonistic and fatefully doomed communal order.

The most potent forces in human life and society—love, hate, politics and religion—emerge and dominate, and with them the bickering, dissension and decadence which they can engender, are all addressed in this play.

Rattled and fearful, the Sweeper struggles to regain control of his delinquent creations, banishing them back to the shadows, as the Manager arrives and the theatre returns to silence, and the world outside continues, as it will.

Four actors take on the primary roles of the Sweeper, Man, Woman and Aunt Harriet. The remaining cast of eight portray a wide range of characters, wedding guests, soldiers, eastern dancers, a wounded messenger, Chief of Police, a Court Official and the Manager.