Comments on: The Contingency Plan http://www.londontheatreblog.co.uk/the-contingency-plan/ Group authored publication covering theatre and the performing arts in London and beyond Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:57:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: News Room :: Steve Waters’ Contingency Plan and the Rubik’s Cube of climate change http://www.londontheatreblog.co.uk/the-contingency-plan/#comment-6581 News Room :: Steve Waters’ Contingency Plan and the Rubik’s Cube of climate change Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:01:30 +0000 http://www.londontheatreblog.co.uk/?p=1897#comment-6581 [...] the first time someone has pulled off a really intelligent piece of theatre about climate change. Even thecritics agreed. Set in the very near future, it involves events – personal and political – [...] [...] the first time someone has pulled off a really intelligent piece of theatre about climate change. Even thecritics agreed. Set in the very near future, it involves events – personal and political – [...]

]]> By: Steve Waters’ Contingency Plan and the Rubik’s Cube of climate change : The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts http://www.londontheatreblog.co.uk/the-contingency-plan/#comment-6578 Steve Waters’ Contingency Plan and the Rubik’s Cube of climate change : The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:14:16 +0000 http://www.londontheatreblog.co.uk/?p=1897#comment-6578 [...] the first time someone has pulled off a really intelligent piece of theatre about climate change. Even thecritics agreed. Set in the very near future, it involves events – personal and political – [...] [...] the first time someone has pulled off a really intelligent piece of theatre about climate change. Even thecritics agreed. Set in the very near future, it involves events – personal and political – [...]

]]> By: Andrew Eglinton http://www.londontheatreblog.co.uk/the-contingency-plan/#comment-3619 Andrew Eglinton Fri, 08 May 2009 13:14:37 +0000 http://www.londontheatreblog.co.uk/?p=1897#comment-3619 Finally a play that tackles climate change head on! Theatre has the power to reach people in ways that films like <em>An Inconvenient Truth</em> can't. With film we contemplate the spectre of our humanity. We're several degrees removed, so disaster becomes spectacle; a source of entertainment that we consume from the comfort of our sofas. The inherent human dimension of theatre is crucial in affecting psychological change. To see fellow humans react to critical subject matter right there in front of you, no matter how hypothetical or simulated a scenario, is more conducive to thought and action. The irony is that <em>An Inconvenient Truth</em> was conceived as a live presentation, a form of theatre. The problem of course is one of reach. Theatres are geo-specific. Their global reach is dismal. So if a filmed version of a live event is a worthy compromise to kick-start a global campaign in a short amount of time, why isn't the National Theatre using it's <a href="http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/45462/home/nt-live-homepage.html" rel="nofollow">NT Live project</a> to broadcast work that gets people moving and shaking about the stuff that matters? If (re)action is not part of NT policy then perhaps it might consider revisiting that policy and/or extending its broadcast facilities to support theatres like the Bush or the Tricycle? Finally a play that tackles climate change head on! Theatre has the power to reach people in ways that films like An Inconvenient Truth can’t. With film we contemplate the spectre of our humanity. We’re several degrees removed, so disaster becomes spectacle; a source of entertainment that we consume from the comfort of our sofas.

The inherent human dimension of theatre is crucial in affecting psychological change. To see fellow humans react to critical subject matter right there in front of you, no matter how hypothetical or simulated a scenario, is more conducive to thought and action.

The irony is that An Inconvenient Truth was conceived as a live presentation, a form of theatre. The problem of course is one of reach. Theatres are geo-specific. Their global reach is dismal. So if a filmed version of a live event is a worthy compromise to kick-start a global campaign in a short amount of time, why isn’t the National Theatre using it’s NT Live project to broadcast work that gets people moving and shaking about the stuff that matters?

If (re)action is not part of NT policy then perhaps it might consider revisiting that policy and/or extending its broadcast facilities to support theatres like the Bush or the Tricycle?

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