By Scott Rasmussen, Journal editor

In playwright Paul Lavrakas’ post-apocalyptic sci-fi fantasy, the Earth is a scorched, desolate and forbidding wasteland, and its inhabitants all live underground.

Pretty much all everyone does anymore is watch old television re-runs and shop at the mall, the “Great Mall of Nemotex”, as it’s known. Sound depressing? Well, it’s meant to, but that’s just the setup.

And it’s the setting not only for an adventure, but for an environmental message wrapped up in a wildly inventive plot, delivered with a heavy dose of humor, and performed in all its wacky glory and colorful costumes by the Friday Harbor Middle School Players, in three back-to-back-to-back performances beginning Friday.

Directed by Jane Maxwell Campbell, Escape from Nemotex features a cast of 27 kids and the music of Jimi Hendrix, songs from his groundbreaking album, “Axis Bold as Love”, for its soundtrack, and a mesmerizing assortment of colorful costumes too mind-boggling to accurately describe.

“It really is quite delightful,” said Campbell, who recently directed “Working”, Studs Terkel’s acclaimed first-person stories about people and the work they do, performed by the high school drama class. “There’s flamingos and trench coats and part-bird people. The costumes are wonderful.”

While many of the underground inhabitants are content with re-runs and shopping, it’s a band of “rebels” that stirs unrest among the ranks and the plot of the play as well, and leads to an adventure in the world above. See you there.

The SJCT box office is open Tuesdays-Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more info, 378-3210, or www.sjctheatre.org.