37 Plays: Climate Writing
This event is in the past
Stories and theatre help us unpack large-scale, complex and uncertain matters such as the climate crisis. Through writing, we can explore new ways of living, and deepen our empathy, driving us to make change and take action in our own ways.
Join us for a series of creative writing workshops, climate talks and in-situ writing sessions that will guide you through writing your own climate-focussed script. In partnership with UEA, this project hopes to equip new-writers with the tools to create ecological pieces that encourage others to explore the many creative responses to the climate crisis, and different facets of the climate debate. A final showcase will offer a chance for participants to share their work in a supportive space with new and old friends.
Led by writers Steve Waters, Nayantara Nayar and Taylor Beidler, and supported by specialist climate communicator Asher Minns of the Tyndall Centre and the Norwich Climate Commission.
‘37 Plays: Climate Writing’ is part of 37 Plays, our latest collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company – an ambitious and ground-breaking new playwriting project that seeks to capture and write the stories of our nation. Find out more here.
Important information
Ticket prices: Free
Age recommendation: 18+
Participants may have a script already in the works – or may be complete novices who want to try their hand at scriptwriting.
Participants are expected to attend the full programme of 7 workshops. The final showcase on 27 Mar is optional, but we encourage participants to engage and celebrate the work they have produced.
Workshops will take place at Norwich Theatre.
Sessions are as follows:
Sat 21 Jan, 10am – 3pm
Mon 30 Jan, 6 – 7.15pm
Mon 6 Feb, 6 – 8pm
Mon 20 Feb, 6 – 8pm
Mon 27 Feb, 6 – 8pm
Mon 6 Mar, 6 – 8pm
Mon 13 Mar, 6 – 8pm
Mon 27 Mar, 7 – 8.30pm
Professionals Involved
Steve Waters:
Steve Waters (Writer) many plays include Limehouse (2017) and Temple (2015) for the Donmar Warehouse, and his version of The Caucasian Chalk Circle for the Rose Theatre, Kingston (Oct, 2022) and the revival of his plays The Contingency Plan for Sheffield Theatres (Oct 22); and for the Bush Theatre, The Contingency Plan (2009) and Little Platoons (2011); for Sheffield Theatres World Music in 2003, The Unthinkable in 2004 and The Last King of Scotland in 2019. Steve’s work for radio includes the acclaimed four-part drama Song of the Reed for Radio 4, Miriam and Youssef and Fall of the Shah for BBC World Service, and #Public Enemy, inspired by Ibsen’s play, to be broadcast Jan 23. He is Professor of Scriptwriting at the University of East Anglia and his books include A Life in 16 Films: How Cinema Made me a Playwright (Methuen, 2021) and The Secret Life of Plays (Nick Hern Books, 2010). His plays are published by Nick Hern Books.
Nayantara Nayar:
Nayantara Nayar is a playwright, researcher, and storyteller from Chennai, India. Her research interests include urban spaces, memory, and ecological crises. Her play ‘The Lottery’ was short-listed for the Hindu Play Writing Award 2018 and workshopped by Rage Theatre Mumbai and Traverse Theatre Edinburgh for the Fringe in 2019. Her play ‘The Body’ was commissioned by Rage Theatre and Enacte Theatre, California for their 2021 New Writing Festival. Her latest play ‘The Sometimes River’ is set to be published by Parag in collaboration with ThinkArts, Kolkata in early 2023. Her ongoing projects include the performance + visual art project ‘Limits of Change’– part of this project, titled ‘Chicken Run’ was presented at the Chennai Photo Biennale 2021-22– and a playscript centred on concepts of control and freedom for the India-Ireland Writing Without Borders program. A Chevening and CHASE funded scholar, Nayantara is currently completing her PhD in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, where she also teaches. Her research areas are playwriting and urban water crises.
Taylor Beidler:
A byproduct of the American Midwest, Taylor Beidler (she/they) is a London-based playwright, prose, and performance artist. Taylor is the inaugural recipient of the 2020 UEA New Forms Award through the National Centre for Writing. They hold an MA (Distinction) in Scriptwriting from the University of East Anglia. Taylor provided written material for AMC, and was recently commissioned to co-write an original pilot for Silverprint Pictures/ITV2. They worked with the UN High Level Champions Team to present a poem to launch the 2020 Race to Zero November Youth Dialogues in lieu of COP26, focusing on fashion and the textile industry.
Asher Minns:
Asher is a science communicator who specialises in knowledge transfer of climate change and other global change research to audiences outside of academia. I have over two decades in practice, I am also the Executive Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, and founding co-Chair of the
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