THE FUTURE IS NOW
STARRING JOANNE FROGGATT, RYAN CORR AND DAVID LYONS, ‘THE COMMONS’ SHOWS WHAT LIFE MIGHT BE LIKE IN THE WAKE OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Huge parts of Australia are unlivable, freak weather events wreak havoc and the warming climate is causing diseases to proliferate. New drama The Commons (on Stan from Christmas Day), which is set in a not-toodistant future, could not be more timely, with many of the things depicted in the eight-part series feeling more and more likely with each passing day.
“We are talking about a little nudge into the future,” says Ryan Corr, who plays experimental biologist Shay Levine. “I watched the first two episodes and looked out the window and the sky looked the same.”
In the midst of all the climate changerelated chaos, neuropsychologist Eadie Boulay (Joanne Froggatt) and her husband, Lloyd Green (David Lyons), who works alongside his long-time friend Shay, have been trying desperately to have a child with no success. “Nothing symbolises hope more than the willingness to bring a child into this world,” Lyons says. “It’s too easy to dwell in the misery of what it is we’re facing. [There’s] this transcendence and hope in the story, and by the end of it this understanding that there is a way through this.”
With Eadie’s 38th birthday imminent, her ability to access state-subsidised IVF programs is soon to end, which sets her on a risky course of action in her attempt to conceive – one that sees her turn to Shay rather than husband Lloyd for assistance. “Their story is about the triangle that happens between Lloyd and Shay and Eadie,” Corr says. Lyons adds: “The triangle that [writer] Shelley [Birse] has created is just so heartbreakingly real.”
For Birse, the relationship between the three central characters was key to tackling such a massive and divisive issue as climate change. “Even though the idea that we’re in such great jeopardy has inherent drama in it, people really struggle to grab hold of it,” she says. “All the science around climate was
failing to grab people and we really needed a very human take on it.”
The Commons also takes a look at how society as a whole might change in the years to come, with Damon Herriman playing former military man Ben Childers, who is stationed at a new checkpoint limiting access into Sydney only to residents and those with approved visitor passes. “Having him was a huge get for us,” Lyons says of the recent AACTA Award best actor winner (for Judy and Punch). “And he brought with him all of that intellect and emotional pathos.”
Series creator Birse elaborates on the bigger picture themes of the series, saying:
“One of the core ideas behind the show is that, initially, it was thought [climate] change would affect everybody equally and that hasn’t turned out to be the case. So we’re moving towards this place where there are climate haves and have-nots. There are going to be communities that will be able to access the more comfortable parts of the world and the medicines.”
For Corr, the message of the show is loud and clear. “It makes the responsibility [on us] now and very current,” he says of the need to do something about the dangers the world is facing due to climate change.