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Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until July 13
Director: Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin
Writers: Joe Murphy, Joe Robertson
Producers: the RSC and Good Chance
Cast: Stephen Kunken, Jenna Augen, Jorge Bosch, Vincent Franklin, Dale Rapley, Olivia Barrowclough, Andrea Gatchalian, Raad Rawi, Kwong Loke, Nancy Crane, Ingrid Oliver, Jude Akuwudike, Ferdy Roberts and Togo Igawa.
Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes, including interval.
If Shakespeare put the English town of Stratford-upon-Avon on the global map, the Kyoto climate treaty arguably did the same for an ancient Japanese capital.
The points of similarity don’t end there: British playwrighting team Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson’s dramatised version of the days and nights of negotiations that delivered the Kyoto Protocol amounts to a modern-day version of a Shakespearean history play.
As with Shakespeare, knowing the outcome only adds to the drama as the increased scientific certainty that we are to blame for climate change intensifies our fury at those on the wrong side.
Washington lawyer Don Pearlman, hired by the oil lobby to defend their interests, would be the villain in chief, except Stephen Kunken’s compelling portrayal makes it more complex than that.
He too has a cause, however misguided: the successful son of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants, he believes in American freedom as an absolute good and that the targets and timelines loathed by the oil industry and demanded by the U.N. process infringe on that.
His chief foil is Jorge Bosch as Raul Estrada-Oyuela, the Argentine chair of the Kyoto talks who gavels the deal through and brings along a wealth of humour.
Another worthy opponent is Ferdy Roberts as John Prescott, whose downright negotiating style, honed in Britain’s Goole Docks, is given the acknowledgement it deserves.
The emotional centre of the play is a scene in which Estrada-Oyuela and Pearlman move closer together.
It’s testimony to the skill of the playwrights and their directors that this meticulously researched play, packed with historical fact and the arcane detail of U.N.climate negotiations, delivers other emotional highlights.
The moment when the brackets – signifying uncertainty – are removed from a sentence attributing climate change to human activity is spine-tingling.
Equally, we relish the thrill of the final deal. It could be the ending of the play, but that would be too simple. Instead, we move on to explore Pearlman’s tragedy and give the floor to his long-suffering wife Shirley, played with earthy warmth by Jenna Augen.
Kyoto
Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until July 13
Director: Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin
Writers: Joe Murphy, Joe Robertson
Producers: the RSC and Good Chance
Cast: Stephen Kunken, Jenna Augen, Jorge Bosch, Vincent Franklin, Dale Rapley, Olivia Barrowclough, Andrea Gatchalian, Raad Rawi, Kwong Loke, Nancy Crane, Ingrid Oliver, Jude Akuwudike, Ferdy Roberts and Togo Igawa.
Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes, including interval.
If Shakespeare put the English town of Stratford-upon-Avon on the global map, the Kyoto climate treaty arguably did the same for an ancient Japanese capital.
The points of similarity don’t end there: British playwrighting team Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson’s dramatised version of the days and nights of negotiations that delivered the Kyoto Protocol amounts to a modern-day version of a Shakespearean history play.
As with Shakespeare, knowing the outcome only adds to the drama as the increased scientific certainty that we are to blame for climate change intensifies our fury at those on the wrong side.
Washington lawyer Don Pearlman, hired by the oil lobby to defend their interests, would be the villain in chief, except Stephen Kunken’s compelling portrayal makes it more complex than that.
He too has a cause, however misguided: the successful son of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants, he believes in American freedom as an absolute good and that the targets and timelines loathed by the oil industry and demanded by the U.N. process infringe on that.
His chief foil is Jorge Bosch as Raul Estrada-Oyuela, the Argentine chair of the Kyoto talks who gavels the deal through and brings along a wealth of humour.
Another worthy opponent is Ferdy Roberts as John Prescott, whose downright negotiating style, honed in Britain’s Goole Docks, is given the acknowledgement it deserves.
The emotional centre of the play is a scene in which Estrada-Oyuela and Pearlman move closer together.
It’s testimony to the skill of the playwrights and their directors that this meticulously researched play, packed with historical fact and the arcane detail of U.N.climate negotiations, delivers other emotional highlights.
The moment when the brackets – signifying uncertainty – are removed from a sentence attributing climate change to human activity is spine-tingling.
Equally, we relish the thrill of the final deal. It could be the ending of the play, but that would be too simple. Instead, we move on to explore Pearlman’s tragedy and give the floor to his long-suffering wife Shirley, played with earthy warmth by Jenna Augen.
Barbara Lewis © 2024.
By Barbara Lewis • plays, theatre, year 2022 • Tags: Barbara Lewis, plays, theatre