About the Play:

Inside the Seed is a full-length dark comedy by Jason Patrick Rothery. A once-brilliant scientist makes a startling discovery: a bio-engineered form of rice that could save an overpopulated world on the brink of catastrophic famine. But what are the costs, to himself, and to those for whom he is responsible?

Inside the Seed is a contemporary version of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex reimagined as a darkly comic political thriller. Foster Bryant is a brilliant scientist who has made a startling discovery, which he imagines is destined to save a world teetering on the inevitable catastrophic consequences of extreme overpopulation. He has genetically modified a new strain of rice to ease the suffering of starving and malnourished people across the globe. In the process, his humble corporation has blossomed into the world's single-largest agribusiness conglomerate. Now, Foster will ship his grain to Africa - free of charge - to save his fellow global citizens. And there is another lifelong dream on the way to being fulfilled: he is about to become a father. But evidence is starting to arise implicating the grain in a serious genetic birth defect. With the clock ticking on his enormous shipment, with three recalcitrant African nations as of yet unwilling to allow his rice across their borders, with a powerful Senate aide insisting that Foster inherited toxic Army contracts that he must honour through his last hostile takeover, and with potential disaster looming on the most intimate possible front – his unborn child - Foster plunges down the rabbit-hole in a desperate bid to uncover the truth that lies inside the seed. Mirroring real-life scientific and corporate controversies, Inside the Seed examines how good, smart, well-intentioned individuals are drawn into, and corrupted by, complex institutional systems, be they corporate, military, or governmental.

Inside the Seed premiered in 2013 at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre and won the 2014 Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Original Script.

Cast: 3 female, 4 male

What people say:

"A scathing look at a fictitious corporation so large it has lost track of its subsidiaries: while one part of the company is growing genetically modified rice, another is manufacturing defoliants. It's about a corporation eager to ship 100,000 tons of its 'Golden Rice' to Africa without knowing – or caring – about the 'statistically insignificant' incidents of birth defects the product causes … Although it's clear the playwright condemns corporations such as this, he sets up the debate fairly: millions of starving Africans will benefit from the shipment of the rice and [the main character] really does not know about the birth defects. But there are others who do know and don't care; or who know but are prepared to make a deal." — Vancouver Courier

"Inside the Seed has important subject matter wrapped up in a sexy stylish production. Its corporate machinations are compelling and a little frightening when you realize most of the plot points are based on real-life examples." — Charlebois Post

About the Playwright:

Jason Patrick Rothery is a Canadian playwright and actor as well as a collaborative creator with several Canadian theatre festivals and production companies.