SMOKESCREEN
A razor-sharp powerplay about the dark arts of marketing behind climate denial.
“When it comes down to it, we’re defending people’s freedom, to do what they want, to make their own choices, to not be pushed around and told what to do and regulated to within an inch of their lives. Individual freedom. Now that’s a big positive. That’s something you can always sell.”
It’s 1977. Glenn has a crisis on his hands. He’s had a successful career as a marketing exec. for a major Oil company, selling the fuel that powers the American Dream. Now he’s waking up to the damage it’s doing to the climate. In a secret meeting, he consults with Bud, a slick young talent from the Tobacco industry, to figure out how to sell a toxic product – and how to live with yourself if you succeed.
Compelling, unnerving, and piercingly relevant, Smokescreen is a psychologically-charged battle of wits that reveals how the climate crisis we face today was shaped by the invisible hands of Ad men.
Searing performances by Damon Baudin (Boys on the Verge of Tears, Romeo and Julie), and C.S. Carroll (I Have No Enemies, The Cadaver Palaver) collide in a pressure-cooker of manipulation, morality, and earth-shattering choices about controlling the narrative while the planet burns.
The Melbourne premiere of Smokescreen will play for 6 performances only at fortyfivedownstairs, 8–13 July 2025.
fortyfivedownstairs
45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
8–13 July 2025
Tuesday to Saturday 7:30pm
Sunday 5pm
Tickets: $35 – $45
Duration: 90 minutes
Tickets via fortyfivedownstairs.com
or
03 9662 9966
Smokescreen was written with the support of artsACT Homefront funding during a residency at Belconnen Arts Centre in 2020. The production debuted at Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre as part of the
'Q - The Locals' season in February 2022.
REVIEWS
"Strong tension and excellent performances from both Baudin and Carroll make this piece worth seeing... Smokescreen is a thought-provoking and welcome start to The Q's 2022 drama programming. It's the job of the arts to challenge and confront especially in difficult times. This is a power struggle played out under the flight paths. The stakes are the survival of the planet."
"Smokescreen is a most engaging and thought-provoking work performed by highly skilled actors with clarity. It is a work that should be seen widely and that might easily be toured for national audiences."
CREDITS
Writer/Director
Christopher Samuel Carroll
Performers
Christopher Samuel Carroll
Damon Baudin
Lighting Designer
Antony Hateley
Publicity
Eleanor Howlett (Sassy Red PR)
Promotional Photographs
Novel Photographic
Production Photographs
Cathy Breen
PRODUCTION HISTORY
2-5 February 2022
Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre
8–13 July 2025
fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne
Supported by Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, artsACT and Belconnen Arts Centre.
