In her first UK theatre role, Felicity Ward will lead the cast of the European premiere of David Finnigan’s provocative and incendiary play Kill Climate Deniers.
An action film wrapped in a TED talk, Kill Climate Deniers won the Griffin Playwriting Award ahead of its 2018 premiere in Sydney, Australia. On at London’s Pleasance Theatre from 4-28 June 2019 (press night is 7 June), it is a bold new satire which blends fact and fiction as it explores in parallel a hostage situation teetering on the brink of calamity and what happened when Finnigan first tried to stage this play. The production will be directed by Nic Connaughton.
What would it take to actually stop climate change dead in its tracks? Science? Recycling? Experts? Or maybe: techno, guns and revolution? Environment Minister Gwen Malkin’s plan to stop climate change is rudely interrupted when a group of eco-terrorists storm Australia’s Parliament House during a Fleetwood Mac concert.
One of Australia’s hottest comics, Ward has enjoyed critically acclaimed hit runs at the Edinburgh Fringe, London and beyond. She has also appeared on Mock the Week, Russell Howard’s Good News and starred in The Inbetweeners Movie 2.
Felicity Ward said:
“I am absolutely delighted to be involved with Kill Climate Deniers. It’s the coolest play I’ve ever read and quite frankly what is not to love about the words: a self-aware post-modern comedy AND action play about climate change, politics, and media hysteria.”
Writer David Finnigan added: “I wrote the first draft of this play back in 2014, and I really hoped it would be dated and irrelevant by now. The fact that more and more people are finding their way to it – including, excitingly, in the UK – is great, but also, a really bad sign. This play is saying: I’m scared, turn the volume all the way up, panic euphoria, hold hands tightly, let’s go.”
