Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Alex Ferguson, Geraint R. Williams.

Much is made of the Millennial, to some this group of people who have come into the world after the nihilism and cynicism of Generation X are to be seen with a sneer and not so positive attitude or recommendation appearing on the corners of the mouths of those who came after the end World War Two, the so called Baby Boomers, and those to whom the Counter Culture was not just grasped for but willingly so. However, rather than the strident pessimism of the Generation X and the awkward suspicion of the baby boomer, for those immersed in the unhinged times of the 21st Century, being In The Millennial Dome is perhaps the hardest times of all, and those who fight within should be applauded rather than condemned.

The world is your crustacean, yet every generation has its cross to bear, for the Millennial it is the knowledge that for almost every Baby Boomer and Gen X, they had the opportunities almost handed them on a plate, of course there were risks, there were hazards for them but by and large theirs was a simpler time, a more relaxed era punctuated by war, disease, famine and a series of uncaring Governments.

For the Millennial the world is place where you cannot even buy a one bedroom flat somewhere, let alone a home, the world of dating has become almost impossible, families have become too complex for the world to cope with and for the first time perhaps in history, the Millennial Generation have all the hope and drive but they are constantly being labelled as feckless, as demanding and of having an air of unearned privilege about them.

In The Millennial Dome sees the world through the eyes of two young men, played by the superb Alex Ferguson and Geraint R. Williams, to whom has been less than kind, the world is at their feet but is quite happy robbing their shoes without them looking.

To borrow from the Bard, their Comedy of Eras works so well because they have lived it, they have seen the meetings between friends in bars and the lofty, yet laudable ideas and the way that they are scoffed at by those around them; it is O.K, perhaps to have ambition but what are you going to do about money, cry the Boomers and the X, you cannot live on compliments and kudos.

The fast paced nature of modern life is echoed in the play, a genuine proposition for a great hour spent at this year’s Edinburgh Festival, the Generation X cynicism has been replaced by the joke imposed by Time and Life and the punch line is visited upon a generation to whose earnest appeal and anger is seen to be ridiculed as undeserved privilege.

A fast paced, enlightening play with a very serious underbelly, to those of a different generation, the question should be could you stand what you have done to the young In The Millennial Dome.

Ian D. Hall