Earth: A Children’s Story for Adults, a climatological allegory written by acclaimed Indian playwright Kashyap Raja, will premiere in London on the 50th-anniversary Earth Day on 22 April 2020. It runs for four performances only at The Vaults until 25 April. Time to get booking!
A mesmerising and transcendent world in which Earth takes a human form and tells the story of a human boy
Drop, a little boy, dreams of becoming an astronaut. Every night he looks at the sky and wonders about the existence of stars and planets. Earth takes a human form and quenches his curiosity by narrating stories about the Sun, the moon and the little stars shining in the sky.
They begin to form a transcendent bond, but a natural calamity wrecks their lives and compels drop to begin a voyage to an alternate planet. Earth warns him that no one in the Universe will accept humans and their only hope is to save Earth. Bewildered by the challenges of finding a new world and confused by the existential crisis of nature, Drop finally asks Earth that why does she only talk to him?
This play is reminiscent of the mystical and curious connection we have with nature as a child and why it’s important to nurture this connection as we grow up. Hence, a children’s story for adults.
Earth: A Children’s Story for Adults is written and directed by Kashyap Raja, whose other plays include the “absorbing and provocative” Version 2.0 and the “eminently lovable” Letters. The premiere production stars Vanessa Toral Diaz and Tim Atkinson and has set and lighting by Monika Gravagno.
2020 marks 50 years of Earth Day
About Earth Day
First held on 22 April 1970, Earth Day was a unified response to an environment in crisis – oil spills, smog, rivers so polluted they literally caught fire. For the inaugural event, 20 million Americans – 10% of the US population at the time – took to the streets across the country to protest. The event is credited with launching the modern environmental movement, launching a wave of action in the US, including the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Marking 50 years in 2020, Earth Day is now recognised as the planet’s largest civic event. The theme for Earth Day 2020 is climate action. Climate change, say organisers, represents the biggest challenge to the future of humanity and the life-support systems that make our world habitable.
Bios
Kashyap Raja is an Indian playwright. He has done his masters in writing from City, University of London and has been writing, directing and producing plays in London for the past five years, including at the Edinburgh and Camden Fringe festivals. In 2018, his “thematically dense” (Breaking the Fourth Wall) play Version 2.0 was performed in the Leicester Square Theatre. His last play Letters was performed at the Poetry Café in Covent Garden.
“Issues of consent, ownership, and entitlement are rife in our current political climate. Kashyap Raja brilliantly brings artificial intelligence to the same discussion” – Reviewsgate on Version 2.0
Vanessa Toral Diaz is trained in the Meissner and Chubbuck techniques and has taken part in micro-theatre pieces like an adaptation of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and has also collaborated in short films like Catch Much Match and Roots. Her most recent work in theatre was in the new play Shards, that was part of the Camden Fringe Festival in 2019. The play received critical and Vanessa was particularly praised for her performance.
Tim Atkinson is an acting graduate from Birmingham University. He is an actor-interpreter with Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and is currently on a tour of Macbeth with them. He regularly performs in theatre, has done numerous short films and has recently completed a feature film called Clay’s Redemption.
