About the Play:

WROL (Without Rule of Law) is a full-length drama by Michaela Jeffery. A group of adolescent girls decide to prepare for the ruined world they expect to inhabit as adults. Throughout, a male friend continues to question their doomsday prepper activities, insisting everything is "fine." WROL (Without Rule of Law) delights audiences with a tale about strength and survival – led by the imagination and grit of four female tweens.

WROL, which stands for stands for Without Rule of Law in doomsday prepper lingo, is a dark comedy about a group of eighth graders preparing to face the collapse of society. Convinced the world at large can't be trusted to prioritize the well-being of adolescent girls in the event of a cataclysmic event (or just in general), a determined troupe of 8th grade 'doomers' are preparing for survival in the post-collapse society they anticipate inheriting. In the garage of her suburban duplex, twelve-year-old Josephine makes apocalypse preparedness videos and posts them to YouTube. Vic takes Jujitsu. Maureen encrypts her text messages and hordes matches (because lighters fail). Sarah stuffs her knapsack with extra socks, granola, water filtration tablets and Tolkien novels, because "you don't know where you're going to be… when it happens… you might not be at home." They also sneak out at night to hunt for a lost civilization of sorts. As they investigate an ominous hidden lair in the woods, they believe they have stumbled onto proof of what happened to a mysterious local cult that vanished without a trace over a decade ago. As they search for vital clues, examining small bones and dusty cans of food for signs of life, the girls find their voices in sometimes hilarious, sometimes poignant ways, even when adults – and their friend Robbie – would rather dismiss them. What they discover changes everything – eighth grade will never be the same. WROL is for any young woman who has ever been told that she is "too much," or that what she fears is illegitimate, or that what she has to say is less important than keeping the peace.

WROL (Without Rule of Law) premiered in 2019 at Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon. Since then the play has been successfully staged at several professional theatres and has been mounted by high schools and colleges as a showcase of student talent.

Cast: 4 female, 1 male (has been performed with both young adult and teenage casts)

What people say:

"If there's one thing this show gets right, it's that it doesn't matter how loud people scream if no one wants to listen ... The Doomers' anger comes from a place of compassion – for each other, for the planet and even for Robbie – which we understand by the time the lights go up. It's not easy to tackle that and make us laugh, too." — The Saskatoon StarPhoenix

About the Playwright:

Michaela Jeffery is an Alberta-based Canadian playwright and graduate of The National Theatre School of Canada.