It’s 2065, Earth is burning, and time is running out.
Geneticist Evie and the crew of the ARK MARK II spaceship are humanity’s last hope, charged with rescuing every species they can, two by two, for a new beginning on Mars.
Lesser prairie chickens, Javan warty pigs, and creatures of all kinds are soon set to roam about in purpose-built biomes in ‘The Second Eden’.
Behind the mission is GENESIS, a corporate superpower who have commissioned the project, selling salvation through a slick marketing campaign.
The mission is disrupted when Evie discovers she’s pregnant – thanks to her husband Alan forgetting his birth control.
As personal crises collide with cosmic responsibility, Evie uncovers a shocking truth about the mission that forces the crew to question everything they thought they knew. Where do they go from here?
Written by award-winning playwright Kathryn Marquet (The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek, Pale Blue Dot) and directed by Playlab Theatre Artistic Director Ian Lawson (Blue Bones, Horizon), Second Coming is a comedy of galactic proportions: a love letter to Earth that explores the rise of corporate power, oligarchy, and the urgent need for new ethics in a world driven by boundless capitalism.
It asks, with dark humour and heart: if we can’t learn from our mistakes on Earth, what hope do we have on Mars?
Second Coming was commissioned for the stage by Playlab Theatre and is co-presented with La Boite Theatre. The production receives its world premiere season from 6–22 August 2026 at La Boite’s Roundhouse Theatre in Brisbane.
