What would you do if your entire life lasted just eight days, if you were forced to grow dramatically overnight and learn the lessons of life knowing you had your days numbered? This past weekend, Theater Bethune presented this “multimedia theater experience” based on Ray Bradbury’s novel “Frost and Fire,” at the Alex Theater in Glendale.

The play was directed by Zina Bethune, a famous writer, director and choreographer who has worked on various other multimedia productions.

Frost and Fire, distinguishes itself with other play productions precisely because of the use of multimedia. The incorporation of several projectors to tell the story along with the acting made it a more engaging experience for the audience. The actors also performed what seemed like a mix of ballet technique, martial arts and acrobatic moves for a stellar performance.

The play is set in the year 5002, in a far away planet where descendants of humans from Earth are condemned to a life cycle of only eight days. The inhabitants of this planet must grow and reproduce at an unrelenting speed, but the main character “Sim,” a young adventurous male, is convinced there is a way to prolong life for a few more days.

The plot of the play follows Sim’s quest for a life-expanding solution, one that would convince his enemy Chion, that there is no need to take someone else’s life to gain an extra day of life for himself. Sim’s mission proves to be difficult because there are only certain times of the day that he and his tribe can withstand the planet’s climate. The sun will burn them and the cold will freeze them to death, hence the title of the play.

Sim finds the answer he was looking for when he meets a subculture of scientists that tell him where there is a space craft from the original landing of Earth humans on the planet they now inhabit. Sim takes his chances and goes to explore it, which is when he finds that the climatic conditions in the spacecraft have stopped his rapid aging and thus Sim has found the way to save his tribe from a short and unfruitful life.

The production flows smoothly from scene to scene and keeps the audience amazed with the dance performances. Some of the best scenes were the war ones where professional martial arts moves were used. The performers wowed the audiences with magnificent dance moves, back flips, and an all around spectacular show.