Presented by China Plate and Staatstheater Mainz
Nuclear weapons could destroy us all, right now – so why aren’t we talking about them?
Sometimes the threat slides into view – Russia invades Ukraine – but that doesn’t make the weapons more dangerous. They’re always dangerous. And one day, deliberately or accidentally, they’ll be used again.
From the team that created the award-winning Status and Confirmation comes a show about a new nuclear weapons treaty – one that’s trying to give the power to eliminate nuclear weapons to the states, and people, who don’t possess them.
It’s a show and a conversation. We’ll talk about where we are, where we live, and why it’s important that people like us talk about this at all.
Created by seven-time Fringe First winner Chris Thorpe and Claire O’Reilly (Abbey Theatre) and developed with Tony Award-winning director Rachel Chavkin.
Join us for a post-show panel discussion on the themes of the show on Saturday, April 26 with writer and performer of Talking About The Fire, Chris Thorpe and Senior Arms Advisor for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Delegation to the United Nations, Véronique Christory.
“It’s all masterfully put together… this show culminates in an encounter that really puts the ‘alive’ into ‘live theatre’.
– Time Out
“It’s precisely the feeling of community and comfort in the room that makes the horror of what Thorpe is describing so powerful.”
– Broadway World
“Informative and deeply affecting… Thorpe is an assured and tremendously engaging performer.”
– The Stage
“Chris Thorpe does what he does with a performative skill that is off-the-charts brilliant. It is an extraordinary evening of theatre.”
–Theatre Reviews Hub
Supported by Battersea Arts Centre, the Albany, Véronique Christory and using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
He doesn´t know a thing about art. But being a former bouncer, Dave gets hired to guard a controversial piece of art. “Jesus on the Cross” is ten feet high by six feet wide and was created in a, well, let’s say, different sort of way. There are people out there who won´t like it, and there are many ways of looking at it. While Dave develops his own relation to art and this particular piece, he begins defending it against his wife, the media and a whole bunch of religious fanatics. Then the shit hits the fan. In the end, his troubles come from an unexpected side.
Nick Hornby is an English writer born in 1957 in Surrey. He studied English at Jesus College, Cambridge. His first book, Fever Pitch (1992), was a huge success, followed by High Fidelity (1995) which was made into a film starring John Cusack and a Broadway musical. About a Boy, also adapted into a film starring Hugh Grant, came out in 1998. Hornby´s other novels are How to be Good (2001), A Long Way Down (2005), Slam (2007), Juliet, Naked (2009) and Funny Girl (2014). His short story collection includes Faith (1998), Not a Star (2000) and Otherwise Pandemonium (2005). The film adaptation of Colm Tóibín´s novel Brooklyn for which Hornby wrote the screenplay was released in 2015. He has written numerous essays mostly on music and literature. Nick Hornby received, amongst numerous other awards and prizes, an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for Lone Scherfig´s film An Education (2009). He has been given the name “The maestro of the male confessional” for the brilliant portrayal of his male characters in his novels.