UK Theatre Network

‘The Contingency Plan’ is a new double bill by Steve Waters. Focusing on the relevant and alarming issue of climate change, they present an epic portrait of a near future England under the siege of devastating floods.

Each play can stand alone, but complement and dramatically enhance each other as a pair. In ‘On the Beach’, Waters wraps a scientific theme in a domestic cloak. The dislocated relationship between father Robin and son Will is exposed through the scientific discoveries Will makes about the impact of melting glaciers in the Antarctic, discoveries, his father himself made 37 years previously.

The language may be dense and technical at times, but the dramatic action carries the audience through, aided by a speedy pace delivered by Michael Longhurst’s direction. Geoffrey Streatfield plays the geeky yet ardent young Will with passion and Stephanie Street injects a sassiness to his civil servant girlfriend Sarinka.

It is the human moments that excel and grip us in the first play; such as the humour of the awkwardness of Sarinka’s first introduction to Will’s parents, as she clutches ungainly at a stung foot; or moments of the tenderness of Jenny, Will’s mother, who tries to assert her own feminine worth in a very scientific and male dominated world, whilst remaining ever supportive of and devoted to her husband.

The second play, ‘Resilience’ climbed much higher in gripping its audience over the subject of climate change. Set in a cabinet room in Whitehall around an austere mahogany table, following the aftermath of a serious flood in Bristol, the stakes already begin high.

Here Waters flips his focus away from the natural surroundings of the sea and her dangerous ambiguity, and onto the probably more dangerous element lurking in humanity. As the title suggests, this play is about the nature of human resilience, set against a political backdrop where personal superiority struggles for supremacy over public survival.

Susan Brown and Robin Soans both fully exploit the opportunity to play completely contrasting characters to the first play. Brown turns from a doting and caring wife to a hardened astute cabinet minister, and Soans’ quirky, bumbling scientist is transformed into his snide enemy, Colin.

The introduction of Christopher, Cabinet Minister for Climate Change, brings with it all the inappropriate humour one likes to expect (after such successes as ‘The Thick of It’) from a Tory minister, brilliantly played by David Bark-Jones, whose comic timing gives the play some much needed comic relief from the alarming implications it projects.

‘Resiliance’ succeeds in bringing relevant, controversial ideas into life in a way that is terrifyingly gripping for the audience to watch.  Tamara Harvey’s superb direction gets the audience totally involved, especially when with the characters we are shrouded in darkness. Excellent writing coupled with first-rate acting and we are simply swallowed up in the action, rather like the ominous fate of British land against the formidable seas.

In ‘The Contingency Plan’ Steve Waters powerfully brings to life important global issues in such a way you’ll find them hard to ignore.

The Contingency Plan at The Bush Theatre
Box Office: 020 8743 5050
Online: www.bushtheatre.co.uk

Press Night Thursday 7 May - On The Beach 4pm; Resilience 7.30pm
Signed performances 9 May 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Audio Described performances Saturday 16 May 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Captioned performances Saturday 23 May 2.30pm & 7.30pm