Synopsis
In this agitprop style dark comedy about Nuclear war an ensemble of actors play identical personnel in American and Russian ICBM launch facilities. Lt. Brad Jones has written a thesis called Schrodinger’s Bomb that, using the Schrodinger’s Cat paradox as a basis, asserts that while we all live under threat of nuclear war with our imperfect launch systems on hair-trigger alert, mankind is both alive and dead at the same time. At the same time a sudden onset of a conscience will not allow him to even pretend to launch a missile even during a drill. The story centers around his efforts to build up the nerve to launch the missile to force an endgame even if he has to bypass the failsafe controls by hacking into the launch control computers, and the Russian’s possible responses to launches by the Americans. In one of the abstract scenes a nuclear warhead, a globe representing the world, and a cat are put in a box. In the final scene, following an actual launch by both sides the box is opened, but the play ends before we can see what’s left inside.
Psylo, The Musical adds these satirical songs to the mix. Hey, why hold back?
- We’re Off To Launch A Missile (to the tune of Yellow Brick Road)
- ICBMs (to the tune of Private Eyes)
- North Dakota (to the tune of Oklahoma)
- I’m a Husskie Russkie Commie (to the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy)
- 99 Missiles (like 99 Bottles of Beer)
- Mr. Radar (to the tune of Mr. Postman)
- Off We Go into the Nuclear Winter (to the Air Force Theme song)
- The Star Spangled Elegy (yes, that one)
A no holds barred production of this play would also include handling out the Survival Under Atomic Attack Booklet (shown below) as part of the admission and playing the CD collection of Songs from the Nuclear Age during Intermission.
History
Psylo was written in a workshop and has had a staged reading and enthusiastic reviews by directors. Contact Dave Cintron for script, props and guidance through this insanity called Mutually Assured Destruction.
Production Notes
8-12 Actors. One location.
Organizations dedicated to Nuclear non-proliferation
GlobalZero
Ploughshares Fund
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Educational websites
Nuclear War News
15-Jan-2016 How fast can a Nuke fly?
The potentially catastrophic effect nuclear weapons can have and what technologies exist to defend against them.
22-Apr-2016 U.S. to buy nuclear material from Iran
32 tons, that is. After the fall of the Soviet Union the US bought hundreds of tons of nuclear material from Russia. And both sides still have missiles on 24/7 alert?
8-May 2016 Kim Jong Un says no first use of nuclear weapons
Following the examples of China in 1964, Russia in 1982 and India in 2003, Kim joins the good fight. And no, America won’t make the same commitment.
26-May-2016 The U.S. is still using floppy disks to run its nuclear program
Not just floppy disks, 8-inch floppy disks. Don’t these wear out?
17-Jul-16 Turkey coup attempt raises fears over safety of US nuclear stockpile
Does anybody really expect that these will come in handy someday??
19-Aug 16 Why Obama should declare a no-first-use policy for nuclear weapons
There is not and never will be a justifiable first use of nuclear weapons. America should be ashamed NOT to lead the charge of nuclear non-proliferation.
9-Sep-16 North Korea’s nuclear tests are getting more powerful
At 10 Kilotons, about 2/3 the yield of the Hiroshima bomb, North Korea is still in the fission bomb category. We cannot trust that they will stay there.
26-Dec-16 Duped by fake news story, Pakistani minister threatens nuclear war with Israel.
Has it really come to using the internet as an early warning system??
11-May-17 Nukes On Parade: Moscow, Russia
Why don’t we have parades like this in America?
8-Aug-17 Panetta: North Korea ‘most serious crisis’ involving nukes since Cuba.
It’s 1962 all over again!
21-Nov-17 In modernizing nuclear arsenal, U.S. stokes new arms race
Here we go again …
6-Mar-18 LLNL Atmospheric Nuclear Tests
The U.S. conducted 210 atmospheric nuclear tests between 1945 and 1962. These are the declassified films of tests conducted by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
24-Mar-18 Security troops on US nuclear missile base took LSD
What is more bizarre – the ongoing threat of Mutually Assured Destruction or the threat of flashbacks during an exercise in a Nuclear Missile silo?