THE Home and Away theme song brings us with a rude jolt to 2043.
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Sprout, the last boy on Earth, is using pedal power to fire up his one saving grace, the familiar folk from Summer Bay.
In 2043, the world has ended.
Human life has been wiped out, all except for Sprout.
He lives on a giant waste transfer station, surviving on Spam - as in the canned meat product not the electronic junk mail variety - and Home and Away re-runs.
In this hellish scenario, Sprout's only friend is Spalding, a basketball puppet.
With a dump for a set and only back issues of New Idea for company, the stage is ripe for funny and surprising antics.
In the role of Sprout, Connor Wall, 12, holds up the whole first act - almost single-handedly - with experience beyond his years.
On stage, musician Ben Gallagher's thoughtfully crafted tunes add ample humour and wit, perfectly punctuating the skillfully delivered dialogue.
Yackandandah Young Players and HotHouse Theatre's current season of The Last Boy on Earth at the Butter Factory Theatre in Wodonga is out of this world - in more ones than one!
Written and directed by Yackandandah playwright Brendan Hogan, The Last Boy on Earth is brought to life by Wall as well as Yackandandah youngsters Aya McInerney, 11, Alexandra Mason, 12, and Henry Rotherham, 14.
Winner of the 2018 Martin Lysicrates Prize, Hogan delivers a dialogue-rich play, which is equal parts thought-provoking and side-splittingly funny.
The under-10s are still laughing at intermission about the scene in which Sprout relieves himself into a Mason jar centre stage (tasteful, rear view).
"Did you see Sprout do a wee on the stage!?" a child inquires of me in the rest rooms.
"It was the funniest!"
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Hogan has crafted a surprisingly optimistic, post-apocalyptic adventure for audience members of all ages.
When Sprout activates an old mobile phone and alerts Planet Google to his existence, the play expertly delves into issues of privacy, technology and humanity.
There are plenty of laughs when the virtual assistants hook up, so-to-speak.
This is a play you can take your whole family - kids, parents and grandparents - and everyone will be positively recharged.
The Last Boy on Earth runs at the Butter Factory Theatre in Gateway Village in Wodonga on Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 1pm and 7pm.
Suitable for earthlings 8+ years.
The show runs for 100 minutes with a 20-minute interval and crafting fun in the foyer.
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