The Catastrophist

Buzz Words: Urgent | Intimate | Innovative
Run Time: Approximately 90 Minutes
Age Range: Recommended for ages 12 and up. Great for those interested in science, personal narratives and innovative theatre.
How do we prepare for what we cannot predict?

The Catastrophist is a theatrical meditation on uncertainty, connection, and the fragile boundary between everyday life and global crisis. Moving through time and memory, the play follows a scientist navigating the emotional and ethical weight of studying viruses—and the personal relationships that shape how we face the unknown.

Playwright Lauren Gunderson crafts an intimate, deeply human story about curiosity, fear, love, and the limits of what we can control. The Catastrophist invites us to sit inside the questions that define modern life: What do we owe each other in uncertain times? How do we live with risk? And how do we find meaning when the future feels unstable?

A riveting solo performance, The Catastrophist is less a biography than a reflection—an exploration of ambition and mortality in an age of unpredictability.

Quotes

“…a work of undeniable immediacy.” – The Washington Post

“The Catastrophist…succeeds as a story that informs us about science and tears at our hearts about love, death and grieving.” – Third Coast Review

“A marriage of art and life. Fascinating.” – PBS NewsHour

Glitter Moments

A solo journey through science, love and the human condition – where one man’s story becomes everyone’s reflection.

Content Information

The Catastrophist features mature themes, including mortality and personal loss.