“Canberra 2060 – future with a capital F”,  by Boho Interactive, at Canberra Theatre until September 5. Reviewed by SIMONE PENKETHMAN.

IT’S 2060 when disaster engulfs the national capital. Federal parliament relocates to a new parliament house situated somewhere “safer” and more politically expedient.

The only way that Canberra can avert this fate is by careful planning and forward thinking, starting now in 2020.

In Boho Interactive’s “Canberra 2060 – Future with a capital F”, the audience is divided into physically distanced teams, seated around tables on the stage of the Canberra Theatre. Each team represents a suburb with particular strengths and local interest issues. Over four rounds, representing the four decades ahead, the teams compete and collaborate to try to evade a future where Canberra is a ghost town bypassed by a highway service station.

In each new decade, two actors present scenarios and challenges that the city faces. Each table makes choices about how to use the financial, social, technical or environmental capital of its suburb to best meet the challenges ahead. Despite the doom-ridden premise and strict sanitation measures, both the show and the atmosphere are warm, witty and light-hearted.

The teams are lively and engaged; a bar on stage and a break at half time make for a relaxed vibe. It’s like a blend of cabaret, pub trivia and hypothetical.

Scientists, futurists and planners were consulted in the creation of this show and the prophesied catastrophes are highly credible. But the greatest strength of “Canberra 2060 – Future with a capital F” is the writing. It’s tight, sharp and funny throughout. Hair-brained solutions to the catastrophic threats and a string of celebrity future prime ministers draw both laughter and groans from the audience.

This show is a fun game but lacks some of the magic of theatre and the anarchic elements one might expect from Boho. Lighting and sound could have been used to much greater effect to provide drama and contrasts in mood. However, there was a strong feeling of goodwill at being back in a theatre at all. This is short, punchy, sociable entertainment and highly rewarding to its audience.