Leah, who once assisted Omnira Anderson, now works for United People’s Alliance, the authoritarian government which has taken power in Canada. The nation’s capital has moved from Ottawa to Waterloo Ontario, now a walled city. In 2038, shortly after Grace’s arrest, Oliver must secretly enter the walled city so that he can negotiate with Leah on behalf of the Black Rose Network. He offers the end of blockades and bombings in return for the release of prisoners, including Grace and Seth. As they talk, Leah tells him the real story behind the coup that toppled the Anderson government.

Grace and Oliver, using false identities, become farmworkers at the McCann Estates Winery in Prince Edward County. During the eight years they live in hiding, they are involved in a migrant workers strike, become lovers, and have a child together. Meanwhile, as predicted, climate crisis decimates much of the world. Millions die in countries near the equator. The US collapses into warring factions. The underground resistance group Black Rose Network, which Oliver and Grace are part of, discovers a government informer in its midst. Soon after, Grace is arrested.

In 2023 Oliver takes the bus to Toronto to visit his friends. He finds out Grace and Seth are student activists with many tales of blockades and hunger strikes. Grace convinces Oliver to start a climate activist group in Kingston called Rapid Response. Over the years that follow, a remarkable, climate-sincere government wins power in Ottawa under Prime Minister Omnira Anderson. Anderson’s personal assistant is Maker and Shaker Leah Zhang, Oliver’s high school love. Politics in Canada start looking better until severe political backlash and a series of scandals topples the Anderson regime. The result is an abrupt switch to a police state under the United People’s Alliance. Seth is arrested and Grace suddenly has to go into hiding. She asks Oliver to join her.

While all his friends leave town to go to university, Oliver remains in Kingston and starts a band called “Beautiful Failure.” He doesn’t enjoy attending Queen’s. In January he quits school and starts working at a health food store where he meets Lennon, a trans youth. During the three-year COVID-19 pandemic, Oliver suffers from depression. That’s when he reconnects with former classmates Grace and Seth who live in Toronto.

Oliver argues with adults who scoff at his climate concerns. He experiences romantic heartbreak at the end of high school in 2019. His first big love, Leah Zhang, rejects monogamy and is about to leave for university in Vancouver. While much of the world suffers a record-breaking summer heat wave, Oliver discusses politics and the future with Grace, a fellow Maker and Shaker, who seems wise beyond her years.

It’s 2075 in Kingston Ontario. An old man enters his childhood home, now abandoned, after a long journey. We find out he is dying of cancer. He begins telling his life story to the ghosts of 2022. His name is Oliver Adams. In 2018, he and other students in grade 12, inspired by Greta Thunberg, start striking for the climate.  Four students — Oliver, Leah, Seth and Grace — form a group called the Makers and Shakers Society.

The Makers and Shakers Society is a scripted audio drama in six parts. Four high school friends meet in 2018 and are inspired by Greta Thunberg to become climate activists. Each in their own way, they struggle to survive the climate apocalypse. In 2038, our four friends are forced to make some hard choices. Premieres on September 16.

Coming soon to CFRC 101.9 FM and your favorite podcast platforms, get ready for The Makers and Shakers Society, a serialized radio theatre production by Kingston-based artists of the Radioland Media Collective.

The Makers and Shakers Society series speculates about imaginary futures, but its makers call this work ‘documentary fiction’ because it is based on many years of research about present circumstances and near future possibilities. Much like Margaret Atwood’s sci-fi novels, everything in this radio drama has happened somewhere or likely will happen soon. It is the antithesis of ‘fantasy,’ although the makers would be remiss if they didn’t confess to a redemptive impulse. If this narrative were a novel, it would be what literary critics call a “bildungsroman,” a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonists from youth to adulthood in which character change is important.

Grace, Seth, Leah, and Oliver come from very different backgrounds. Inspired by Greta Thunberg, they meet in grade twelve at KCVI and become climate activists. Each in their own way, they struggle to survive the climate apocalypse. A climate-friendly government takes power in Ottawa, but is battered by backlash and scandal. By 2038, the four friends are forced to make hard choices.

The Makers and Shakers Society is a scripted audio drama in six parts written and directed by Clarke Mackey. All cast members have Kingston connections. Performers include Jackson Watt-Bowers, Vishmayaa Jeyamoorthy, Stephanie Fung, Paul Smith, Anna Sudac, Liam Karry, and Cassel Miles. The music is composed and performed by Kevin Bowers.

Tune in every Thursday at 7 pm on CFRC 101.9 fm from September 15 to October 20. Subscribe to the Podcast! Podcasts for each episode will be made available the next day.

For more information go to makersandshakers.ca