
The Contingency Plan
Two plays
Steve Waters(Author)
Nick Hern Books (Publisher)
Published on 16. April 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
200 pages
978-1-84842-052-6 (ISBN)
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Description
A double bill of plays from the frontline of climate change - an epic portrait of an England of the near future, in the grip of unprecedented and catastrophic floods.
In On the Beach, Will Paxton, a glaciologist, returns from months in Antarctica to tell his parents that he will take up a role within Government. Thirty years ago, his father silenced his own radical thinking on climate change. Yet behind the reunion with his father lies thirty years of secrecy and bitterness. As the truth surfaces, the family is torn apart, and Will's parents must face the rising tide alone.
In Resilience, the Tory Government that has just come to power wants radical answers to the imminent floods. Their newly appointed expert, Will Paxton, puts an extreme scenario on the table: England, from its coastline to its capital, faces catastrophe.
Impressive in scale and chilling as a prediction of our immediate future, the two plays are complementary but can also stand alone.
Steve Waters' The Contingency Plan was first performed at the Bush Theatre, London, in April 2009.
In On the Beach, Will Paxton, a glaciologist, returns from months in Antarctica to tell his parents that he will take up a role within Government. Thirty years ago, his father silenced his own radical thinking on climate change. Yet behind the reunion with his father lies thirty years of secrecy and bitterness. As the truth surfaces, the family is torn apart, and Will's parents must face the rising tide alone.
In Resilience, the Tory Government that has just come to power wants radical answers to the imminent floods. Their newly appointed expert, Will Paxton, puts an extreme scenario on the table: England, from its coastline to its capital, faces catastrophe.
Impressive in scale and chilling as a prediction of our immediate future, the two plays are complementary but can also stand alone.
Steve Waters' The Contingency Plan was first performed at the Bush Theatre, London, in April 2009.
Reviews / Votes
'An urgent wake-up call... for sheer emotional intensity, has no rival on the London stage... Waters' massive achievement is to have made the most important issue of our times into engrossing theatre' * Guardian * 'A triumph' * Evening Standard * 'Thrilling... masterly... a stunning theatrical knock-out' * Daily Telegraph * 'The first and best British play on climate change' * Time Out *More details
Series
Edition
2009 edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
220 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84842-052-6 (9781848420526)
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Schweitzer Classification
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E-Book
11/2015
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Person
Steve Waters ran the MPhil in Playwriting at Birmingham University for several years; he now teaches Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. He is also an acclaimed playwright whose plays have been staged at the Donmar Warehouse, the Sheffield Crucible, Hampstead Theatre and the Bush Theatre.