In 2022 the Jopuka Writers’ Club began working on a collaborative project based on the prompt “The top five ways the world will end according to Professor Brian Cox.”

Those methods of extinction, according to Cox in a 2015 interview, are as follows:

5 – Supervolcano

4 – Plague (yes, this was before COVID)

3 – Supernova

2 – Asteroid

1 – Stupidity

We used this as impetus to explore both real and metaphorical ideas about how the end of the world might look, or more importantly feel. The loss of a parent or an asteroid plummeting into the earth can both feel equally as world ending and life changing.

Our writers then embarked on creating a series of drafts before leaving it in the hands of facilitators Danielle Brame Whiting and Jamie Hornsby to edit and sew these scenes together into the production you are seeing this weekend, The Mortality Project. Packed to the brim with ideas from a team of brilliant young creatives, and highlights the unique and unexpected approaches each writer chose to tackle this prompt – some heartbreaking, some hilarious, often at the same time!

The Mortality Project is the beta test for what we hope will be many years of collaborative writing projects with our Jopuka Family.

If you’re interested in joining the Jopuka Writers’ Club, get in touch!