As a disclaimer up front...
Apologies, but I don't really like this kind of backstory. Not only have I seen many backstories very similar to it before, but I object to two fundamental premises: That making furries and wiping out humanity are both easy, and something we can do 'five minutes into the future'. In practice they aren't. They are both extremely hard, especially if you want to do them in that order. If you have the technology base to make furries with a small group of people with very limited resources, then before the world ended, that same technology would have enabled humanity to a lot of things that are much easier. Like colonize mars, and nearby stars, and also defenses against most things that could wipe out humanity. And quite frankly probably also done the whole 'artificial life' multiple time before...
But that is an, um,
an extremely technically focused way of looking at things, and thus not particularly helpful, since most people don't approach things that way. And stories should be judged upon their own merits, as I will try to do here.
Technical side:
Just to start with, I'm pretty sure those two curtains need greasing.
I'm afraid I have to echo the issues with the gun scene, and I think there was some audio SFX which didn't sync up elsewhere as well. However SFX work is a job that I've actually done myself on a (much) smaller production, so I know that's something that can just happen. Congrats on getting everything else right.
Acting:
The performs seemed up to its usual high standards, with all of the characters coming off as themselves, rather than their actors, which is how things should be.
Characters:
I'm afraid they didn't leave a very strong impression on me this year. Off hand the only name I could remember was Goldeneyes. Whisperwind (thank you Kulze) was very much the manipulative psychopath, but he didn't stand out that much. Goldeneyes herself was clearly an abuse victim, and still in mourning for her husband, and possibly suffering PTSD from killing Potami's mother. Having her stand up to Whisperwind was satisfying, but in no way left me confident that she could lead or even manage Ironforge. Raindancer was in many ways the most likable character, and I suspect he was designed to be.
And then there was Potami. An archetypal 'bad girl' (and I think 'girl' is suitable here) who enjoys life to the max because she only want to live long enough to avenge her mother's death. We see in this story the consequences of her recklessness catching up to her for the first time since the execution, and I fear she will face more in the near future. (As might Raindancer. By coincidence there were a lot of 'go see a doctor if it itches that bad' posters in Berlin this year.
) I'm a little curious why she wasn't the main character? I was disappointing, though not surprised, when she lost her nerve and didn't try harder in the final confrontation ("Yes, you found one cache, not the others") though in fairness Whisperwind was always going to call her bluff. I would respect her a little more if she had pre-stuffed the gun with dried mud, but I'm not sure the scene intended that.
Though as a technicality 'making the gun explode' and 'stopping the bullet' are two very different things. She probably should have been a little bit injured, which would be in line with her apparent character arc that 'risks are actually dangerous'. Stuffing wet mud into the barrel while she was on the ground is unlikely to have done either. And on the subject of technicalities - I found it hard to credit that the 'best blacksmith in Ironforge' was anything of the sort. He didn't offer alternatives, or ask for better metal production knowledge, or better quality ore.
One 'character' that seemed very underdeveloped was the Opposition/Ironforge. As I've said above, I really don't know what they actually wanted, or why they hated/feared the Institute so much. Because they're too much like the Keepers, or because they're not the Keepers, and the Opposition are actually Loyalists? Or because they fear release of technology to a rival (deliberately or carelessly due to the Institutes apparently appalling security) could destroy them economically and leave their city starving. I also found the Institute's reasoning to be rather unconvincing. Existential threats exist whether you keep secrets or not, and surviving most require a certain minimal level of technology to see them coming and survive. By wanting to avoid the specific fate humanity suffered (according to the Keepers at least, who aren't known for their honesty) they are ironically making their culture more vulnerable to other ones. Which is an extremely silly thing to do and unfortunately made their wisdom appear a little hollow.
I have no particular issue with the brothel scene as such (which was definitely one of the funniest) since I feel it is broadly in line with her character and her 'no thought for the morrow' philosophy. (Though I was a little surprised that she went as far as she did.) I did have a lot more issue with her forgiveness of Goldeneyes, since this was the part that seemed forced to me. Personally I think that scene could have benifited from Potami acting a little bit more like Whisperwind - but that would have hurt the realism of Goldeneyes' heal face turn later on... So yeah. I'm afraid I'm also a little unconvinced as to the long term romantic potential between her and Raindancer.
Potami <...> behaved like more or less of a slut,
Point of order: The term 'slut' is largely based on humans being very fertile all year round, that raising children is hard work, and that having them carelessly makes you a net economic and social drain on the community. Multiple parts of this may not apply to her species, and it certainly does not apply in any society that has effective pregnancy prevention.
Story Theme:
I'm afraid that several days later I'm still confused about what the play was actually about. Yes, it contained a love story, but that seemed to be a sub-plot, along with forgiveness. So what was the theme? It did seem to want to talk about something, possibly several somethings, but I'm not sure what I was hearing.
At first the story looked like it might explore what else in history the keepers had lied/simplified/exaggerated about, but no. Then the story looked like it was going to examine the choice between freedom of information vs the need to keep dangerous information secret. But that was never actually discussed, and instead when it came up the Institute telling people how terrible for history to repeat itself. And one side simply telling the other they are wrong isn't talking about an issue. So what was the story about? Well...
A morality tale about how hand guns are dangerous, and they should be kept out of general circulation, and only in the hands of the
government keepers Institute? A lesson that madman who want to start armament programmes and conquer the world, and have a habit of trying to steal technology from the
west Institute are bad? Well the first is 100% corn-fed US politics, and we already know that Stalin was a jerk. Maybe this is one of those lost in translation things, or maybe there was no theme and it was purely intended as a fun adventure. In which case silly me for over thinking things
Story Everything Else:
The plot was generally fun and engaging, though overall it reminded me of an episode of MLP, good and bad. Visually appealing and great acting, with stories based upon adventure, drama, and comedy - but I find myself wanting something more when I watch. There were moments when I got it too, such as the two people examining the bodies, which was very atmospheric. Which again made me wonder if I was missing the same sophistication elsewhere, or if it was never intended to be there in the first place. But I belabor the point.
If I was to compare this to a film, then it is not an Avengers, but certainly not a Batman vs Superman either. I would say it was very much a Suicide Squad (which I enjoyed BTW.) A fun action story with one or two scenes that don't quite make sense but solid entertainment none the less.