The genesis of this play began decades ago with the fear of nuclear war, and subsequently the use of various kinds of chemical warfare such as that used in the Vietnam war. Some of these continue to affect people to this day. However, it became clear long ago that biological weapons would eventually become the means of mass warfare (and mass destruction). DNA and other scientific evidence indicate that mankind reached the brink of extinction seventy-five thousand years ago. If mankind again reaches near extinction, it likely would be the result of biological warfare or a natural cataclysmic event, rather than via nuclear or chemical warfare. The pandemics of the Black Death of 1347, the Spanish flu of 1918, and the coronavirus, are not known to be of biological warfare origin. This play was initially written before the current pandemic, and represents the hypothetical result of massive biological warfare. Coronavirus shows the massive impact one single everyday virus can have on worldwide civilization. A play that has a multi-racial cast featuring characters of different racial heritages, which might be the natural result of a Great Pandemic, and my visits to Tristan da Cunha, where racial diversity is the result of naturally occurring events, have solidified my desire to write such a play. The Burrow combines these two themes. Four survivors of the Great Pandemic, all seeking a safe haven in a world of desolation and lawlessness, come together in the confines of a barn, a burrow, which provides a place of shelter, safety, sustenance and survival, and a focus of fertility. They are joined eventually by two others, fleeing a dying community. This ethnically diverse group consists of: -A writer, well-educated, yearning for home and security.-A survivalist, well-educated, resourceful, streetwise, dreamer, visionary, yet practical.-A vagabond, streetwise, uneducated, resourceful, earthy, yearning for a mate, with a strong desire for nurturing. -A revolutionary, self-sufficient, idealistic.-Two young "warrior women", with long range sharpshooting and rapid-fire skills. They have their own individual goals, roles, and desires, and coexist with feelings of isolation, hopelessness, and helplessness. When threatened from outside, they come together to confront the dangers. As their inevitable launching into the outside world approaches, they prepare to leave as a team with common goals and plans. The underlying goodness of man slowly emerges, and the characters are filled with joy, hope, love and humor.
