Writer: Steve Waters
Director ofOn the Beach: Chelsea Walker
Director ofResilience: Caroline Steinbeis
The Contingency Plan by Steve Waters addresses the massive and complex problem of climate change. It is a double bill and has been revised and brought up to date for the Sheffield production. It was first performed at the Bush Theatre, London in 2009. Since then, scientists’ understanding and the world’s recognition of climate change have moved on, making awareness of the threats even greater.
While climate change is having a catastrophic effect in other parts of the world, the two plays focus on a potential environmental disaster nearer home. They explore the effect of rising sea levels on the coastal areas of Britain. The first play, On the Beach, is an absorbing family drama and the second play, Resilience, is a political satire as the government chaotically tries to wrestle with impending disastrous flooding due to high tides. Each play stands alone, but seen together they provide an undoubtedly enriching experience and put some elements more in context.
In On the Beach, parents Robin Paxton (Peter Forbes), a passionate and obsessed climate change scientist, and ‘green’ Jenny Paxton (Geraldine Alexander) await the return of their son Will (Joe Bannister) from Antarctica. They have cut themselves off from society and live in a remote area of coastal Norfolk. Robin, a former glaciologist, who had previously worked in Antarctica discovered the ice was not stable. He had tried to inform government, but his findings were dismissed. This left Robin, bitter and totally disillusioned with government. Over the years Robin had become obsessively consumed with observing the local habitat and rising sea levels. He inspired their son to become a glaciologist and carry on with his work in Antarctica. When Will returns with his girlfriend Sarika (Kiran Landa), a civil servant in the department of Resilience, the parents are dismayed. The drama in the family heightens when a long-held secret comes to the surface.
At times in the play, it is hard to become reconciled with the father’s neurotic, deranged behaviour of simply accepting the rising sea levels as inevitable and his apparent death wish. Father and son both agree with the looming destruction caused by climate change yet it challenges their relationship. Here again, the play possibly takes a step too far.
The props are minimal and while the ingenious model the father creates to demonstrate the effect of rising sea levels, one would question whether a rigorous scientist would really build such a simplistic model. However, the model serves very well as a dramatic effect in the play.
All is not doom and gloom in On the Beach; the love between the characters and humour carries the audience through the drama. The sound effects of the approaching waves and flocks of birds flying overhead really enrich the performance and sense of place.
Resilience takes a totally different approach in thinking about the issue of climate change.
There is a newly formed Ministry of Resilience, with Christopher Casson (Paul Ready) as Secretary of State for Resilience and Tessa Fortnum (Geraldine Alexander) as a Minister of State in the department. It is run by two very different yet ambitious politicians who have little knowledge and understanding or appreciation of the complex issues of climate change. They are totally dependent on the advice of the long-standing and establishment figure, Professor Colin Jenks (Peter Forbes), their scientific adviser. When a fresh young scientist, Will Paxton (Joe Bannister), is brought into the fold is he able to impress on them the urgency of the situation?
It is comical and disturbing to see how the sparring politicians Chris and Tessa try to grapple with the complex issues while aiming to further their careers. The play is peppered throughout with up-to-date references to recent politicians and political events, making it all the more immediate. Even the scientists fail to agree. The young private secretary, Sarika Chatterjee (Kiran Landa), plays her role as an influencer with great aplomb. Has the old scientific advisor become complacent or is he more realistic than the newcomer when it comes to implementing change?
The play explores the different points of view of both scientists and politicians and the difficulty of coming to an agreement on the best way forward for the country.
The set is very simple, but the sense they are isolated in the COBR meeting room, with its strictly monitored communication, is successfully achieved by ominous phones ringing demanding answers. The high drama, reinforced by cracks of thunder, is dissipated by the satire of the people hopelessly out of their depth, at times with a pantomime effect.
The performances were superb and the interaction between the characters worked well. Their roles were possibly stereotypes from the bumbling scientists to the sleek, hapless politicians. Both plays cannot fail to stimulate the imagination, to provoke discussion and reflect on our own accountability for action on what is coming.
Runs until 5th November 2022.