This Little Earth
07 November 2025
Arcola Theatre
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
This Little Earth, currently running at the Arcola Theatre until the 15th November, is a short two-hander that delves into the world of conspiracy theories. The 90 minute staging revolves around two flat-earthers who travel to Antarctica to prove their beliefs and find the giant ice wall at the edge of the world.
Fanta Barrie plays Honey, a confused, grieving young woman who recently lost her sister and with that, a part of herself. She is easily led down the road of conspiracies, desperately clinging to anything that takes away the pain for a moment. Ross O’Donnellan plays Christopher, a deeply convicted conspiracy theorist who is absolutely convinced that the earth is flat and we are all being lied to, about almost everything. When the two meet, they quickly become deeply involved and hatch a mad plan to secretly travel to Antarctica (so “they” can’t follow or stop them) and all by themselves find evidence of all the lies, to prove that the earth is indeed flat.
The show is told with a plethora of time jumps, starting in Antarctica, then jumping to when the two meet, back to the eternal ice, and again to the beginning of their relationship. It’s a little confusing, though well presented, utilising lighting changes to make it clear when scene changes happen. The narrative is interesting, a thought experiment examining how people fall into conspiracy holes and how the belief in huge government and scientific lies can affect the lives of those involved in so much distrust. A slippery slope from “this doesn’t quite add up” to “we are being lied to and observed and manipulated”.
This Little Earth isn’t ambitious in tackling the truth in these conspiracies, rather it seeks to look at the human cost to those involved in the world of secret plots and manipulative governments. Told through the perspective of a young woman in deep grief, it’s an interesting little show with a surprising amount of humour. There is levity in the drama, with a surprising ending that ties the narrative up expertly.
