Details

A Reading to mark the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The Contingency Plan is a double bill of plays from the frontline of climate change. They both stand alone and are complementary. Together, they present an epic portrait of an England of the near future, in which huge flooding has destroyed Bristol and threatens to sink the east coast. Resilence (Dec 18) is a Whitehall satire. A Tory government has just come to power and wants radical answers to the imminent floods. Two new ministers, a true-blue Tory and a member of the Notting Hill set, try to outmanoeuvre and undermine each other. When Sarika Chatterjee, the chief Civil Servant brings maverick glaciologist Will Paxton into the meeting, he puts an extreme scenario on the table: England, from its coastline to its capital, faces catastrophe. On the Beach (Dec 15): Will returns from the Antarctic Survey to visit his parental home on the Norfolk coast. His father is a discredited climatologist and radical thinker. Will's decision to work from within government enrages his father and brings the family to breaking point. Will’s mother Jenny struggles to keep the peace but a much more immediate threat faces the couple. When the floods come, will they leave their home and the landscape they love for higher ground?

Cast/Performers

Robin Soans, Geoffrey Streatfeild

Creatives/Company

Author: Steve Waters
Producer: Bush Theatre
Director(s): Tamara Harvey, Hannah Ashwell-Dickinson