(seen at the afternoon performance on 13th February 2025)
For those who remember the Manchester Granada Studios Tour in the late 1980s, we are on familiar ground. A group of actors arguing politics in an immersive space. As travel writer Bill Bryson noted, “If Disney had had a House of Commons debate, it would have been earnest, hokey, frighteningly competitive and over in three minutes. The people would have cared deeply, if briefly, about coming out on top... It was all about having a good time, and it was done so well, so cheerfully and cleverly, that I could hardly stand it.”
There is more than a whiff of Granada / Disney about “Kyoto” as well. For those in the front row, you are automatically roped in as delegate aids, as actors take a seat beside you. The rest of us are issued with conference lanyards on entry, for no really good reason except adding a little to the atmosphere. "Sometimes the on-stage extra, sometimes a piece of scenery" - the monkey year so far.
The play itself is likewise “done so well.” Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson condense 20 years of meetings and political machinations into a reasonably tight two hours 40, with a genuinely tense penultimate Kyoto Agreement summit climax.
We are presented with real evidence of climate change in unbiased fashion, and also shown some unvarnished truths about the fact oil and allied industries manipulate politicians, who themselves are willing to be manipulated, as it is really all about money not “saving the planet.”
Directors Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin underline this by having the delegates huddle, whispering among themselves, even as on-stage action continues. Those sitting by the stalls aisles in the rear corners (as the monkey did in seat F1) will have to resist telling the actors that the underhand behaviour is being noted.
Our guide through all this is “The Climate Council” founder Don Pearlman (Stephen Kunken). Obfuscating, determined to undermine proceedings and worrying wife Shirley (Jenna Augen, excelling in long-suffering spousehood) in the process. A rigged hotel room chandelier (per “The Phantom of the Opera”) is not enough for him to pause to protect her.
Pearlman’s nemesis, Argentinian Raul Strada-Oyuela (Jorge Bosch) glues nations together with tactical diplomacy. A scene in which the men step closer together is a highlight of both writing and acting, focussing all on simple theatrical motion.
Other delegates also turn in interesting performances. Kristin Atherton gets Merkel and Germany right. Ferdy Roberts doesn’t look like John Prescott, but captures his mannerisms and is a fine and confused scientist Houghton.
Duncan Wisbey creates a creepy Fred Singer, observer and journalist. Andrea Gatchalian does excellent work as Kiribati, a firework of determination. Nancy Crane and Kwong Loke as USA and China have mutually enjoyable stand-offs, while Togo Igawa’s Japan is inscrutable, Raad Rawi’s Saudi Arabia incorrigible, and Olivia Barrowclough’s Secretariat just weary of them all.
With Akhila Krishnan’s busy video design, proceedings are clear. What could be an interminable lecture instead is mostly balanced, thoughtful and revealing. If there is a slightly more focussed script to be had – we probably do not quite need so many conferences and do need a little more centre-stage delegate negotiation revelation – this is a well-considered history lesson accessible to even the most hardened climate sceptic.
