– I didn’t tell you to have a climate emergency panic!
– You didn’t?
– No! That’s a typo. I want you to have a climate emergency PICNIC.
At Bath’s Rondo Theatre at 7:30 on Monday 2 March, writer Gill Kirk’s giving theatre lovers a chance to peek behind the curtain of her new show – halfway through its development. With this pre-tour script-in-hand show, she and her team at Glitter Knickers Productions are encouraging us to laugh at the dark side of our attitudes to climate change.
The show, SKIN IN THE GAME, is about a near-apocalyptic near-future. The once-unimaginable has happened; climate despair is not only met with lots of tasteless “bread & circuses” light entertainment – but also with worrying abuses of power.
Gill’s developing this satirical dark comedy with a talented team from TV, film and theatre. Directed by Bristol’s Amanda Horlock, the cast on 2 March include familiar faces:
- Ed Browning – known to Poldark fans as Paul Daniel from the BBC 1 ratings-winner
- Emma Cleasby – the lead in Sean Pertwee horror Dog Soldiers, and from 55 Degrees North alongside Dervla Kirwan and Don Gilet
- Nik Howden – Stan Laurel in BBC4’s “Stan”
- Zachary Powell – a regular with Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory and Luke in the David Tennant film, ‘You, Me and Him’
- Rachel Vowles – from Exeter’s Nuts & Volts theatre company, a physical theatre expert and a Director of CredFest.
Inspired by a holiday walk in the Highlands, Gill’s idea for the show won her an artist’s residency with Pitlochry Festival Theatre. It’s attracting interest from theatres across the country and she’s working with Olivier-winning producer Joe Brown (whose UK and international tours include Footloose, Bring It On The Musical, We Will Rock You, Fame, Avenue Q) and Trowbridge-based production manager David Doust to take it on tour after 2 March’s one-night-only audience event.
Held at Bath’s new writing theatre, Larkhall’s Rondo, 2 March is a must for the climate-curious and concerned, for theatre-lovers who want to see the creative process in action and would like to contribute to a new work, and anyone who enjoys a skewed look at the possible future to come. “Dark comedy is perhaps how we cope with life’s tough questions,” says Gill. “Whatever your feelings about our climate-future, the question for us is, ‘Are you game enough to be in the audience?!’ ”.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1.Skin In The Game – script-in-hand: 7:30, Mon 2 March, Rondo Theatre, St Saviours Rd, Bath BA1 6RT
2. Booking’s recommended (limited seats): £5.34 at: www.ticketsignite.com/event/2490/skin-in-the-game
3. Gill is a graduate of Channel 4’s prestigious 4Screenwriting programme and perhaps best known locally for her 2016 play Glitter Knickers. Others include Passion (London Vaults, Aberdeen Dance, Tobacco Factory), Away With The Fairies (Bristol’s Alma), Water’s Not So Thick (Ustinov development; Rondo).
4. For more information, please email the producers ddoust123@hotmail.co.uk and joecbrown@live.com
