LOGLINE: Plan B: Heroines of Chaos. When Zsófi inherits the family orchard in Hawke's Bay, and Cyclone Gabrielle hits, she must decide whether to reinstate and rebuild, or go with plan B.
GENRE: Eco-drama: one possible scenario of all our tomorrows, which assumes a major pandemic, wars, migration, difficulties with global trade, and that climate-related targets are missed.
OUTLINE: The story opens in 2022 with WHO trucks moving in convoy toward a village in southern India, where medics contain an outbreak of a fatal M-pox strain.
The story then switches to a college in Hawke's Bay, NZ, where two school-girls meet in the car-park. One girl is Tamara, the central character, who subsequently becomes a trained ecologist, and who is the architect of Plan B.
Tamara lives to ninety, and is also the main commentator on events, and the natural world.
The other school-girl is Tamara's friend, Zsófi, who has recently inherited the family cherry orchard in Hawke's Bay. Zsófi, too, is concerned about the natural world, and green in her thinking. Zsófi takes an interest in Tamara, the two girls travel to Zsófi's orchard together.
At the orchard, Zsófi beckons Altan, a migrant worker, who was forced off the Mongolian steppe by Dzud (extreme weather). Altan's English is poor so he says nothing, but Zsófi is interested.
Time moves on to Cyclone Gabrielle, and the story moves to Auckland, where Yuvan, an older man of Polish extraction, struggles to prevent his home from being flooded out.
In 2028, Tamara, Zsófi, Altan, and Yuvan are together, dancing on a farmhouse verandah in Otago. Also there is Csaba, who has been wounded in the war in Ukraine, and suffers from PTSD.
Afterwards, Zsófi kisses Tamara, although the exact nature of Zsófi's various relationships is not clear at this stage.
The timeline moves on again toward 2058 (where much of the story is set), by which time Zsófi's daughter Odval, born 2038, has grown up.
Human society has undergone substantial changes: a great pandemic shrank world population by a third; climate chaos has undermined food supplies; and with extended wars, the global supply chain has crumbled.
New Zealand has adapted, and relies mainly on hydroelectric power, although many farming areas in the north have been abandoned, and much migration has occurred.
At this point, the orchard in Otago is destroyed by wildfire, and Csaba dies. Afterwards, Tamara begins a new life with Odval, and tells of the death of Zsófi, and Yuvan; and the genesis of Plan B.
Yuvan's relationship with Tamara, and Zsófi, is revealed, and how Yuvan (and his generation) were so dismissive of climate chaos.
Time moves forward again to 2081, by which time the orchard has been replanted, and Odval quizzes Tamara about the demise of the old highly industrialized lifestyle.
The final scene, after Tamara’s death, is set in 2099, and brings symbolic retribution.
The main themes include ecology and managed retreat within Aotearoa, particularly in relation to the local farming community. The story spans six generations, and highlights the role of migration in the decades to come.
The story ends with just a glimmer of hope, which entails a changed lifestyle.