The ice caps have melted. The air supply is poisoned. Humanity teeters on the brink of extinction.
One woman strives to lead a diverse group of women to reconnect with nature, to find the strength to put aside their differences and stand together to build a new society.
When the situation arises, how will the human race choose to rebuild itself?
THE SHOW
‘The Farm’ aims to pay homage to great dystopian writers such as Orwell, Huxley, Bradbury, and Atwood. Much of their vision for the future of humanity has, to varying degrees, become reality today and this play looks at a possible future outcome for the human race if we were to ignore the current science on the climate crisis.
Our protagonist, Helen, represents the every-woman, we should see a part of ourselves in her. In this new environment she has to reconcile with the guilt of having buried her head in the sand against all predictions of the catastrophe and adapt and grow in order to survive the new order. She must lead a diverse group of women to reconnect with nature, to find the strength to put aside their differences and stand together to build a new society. Can they find clarity in their convictions when forced to listen to those with opposing views and use their conflicting perspectives to build a better, stronger, safer future? The fate of humanity depends on it.
The world in which we find Helen and her comrades is the beginning of the new order. This play sits at a crossroads that could potentially lead the human race towards one of the futures predicted in the eminent dystopian works of the aforementioned writers.
OUR INSPIRATION
The world is burning. Temperatures are consistently reaching record highs. The ice is melting, sea waters are rising, cities are flooding, the biosphere is breaking down and thousands of species are becoming extinct. Research is violently pointing out that if we don’t change our ways, we are heading for ecological disaster.
We can dispute that the climate crisis is exacerbated by human activity, but it is becoming increasingly indubitable that if the planet continues to heat at the current rate, then life as we know it will be eradicated.
As more information comes to light of the impact the human race is having on the climate crisis, it is easy to become overwhelmed with guilt and grief or, conversely, to avoid the topic in its entirety. It is now a crucial time for us to apply positive actions in order to turn our practices around and create a cleaner world, all whilst encouraging society to feel a sense of irrefutable gain by understanding our role in nature and how we can embrace her strength.
The producers are aiming to create an entertaining, challenging and informative piece of theatre that inspires audiences to engage positively with the climate crisis we are facing. We want to create a story of hope, a message showing that even in the darkest of times people can put aside their differences and come together to create a better world.
Inspired by theatrical practices past and present by directors like Joan Littlewood, Emma Rice, Rupert Goold & Mike Leigh, the R&D will create work in a similar manner. With an ensemble of actors and creatives experienced in devised theatre, we want to ensure that we discover the strongest way of portraying this story.
WHY THE FARM?
Our ambition for Wild Mountain is to commission and produce plays that shine a light on current affairs which intelligently and provocatively encourage audiences to question the world in which we live. We are aiming to keep the drive for equality moving forward and explore narratives that include, rather than exclude, without an agenda to lecture, but to inform and entertain; we want to shed light on relationships, power, family, love and politics with even-handedness and truth and with a diverse voice in everything we make.
WHY NOW?
This will mark Wild Mountain's debut play and, coming out of the pandemic it feels important to be putting our energy into creating new theatre. The Climate Crisis is arguably the most pressing issue facing humanity and now is the right time to explore theatre that encourages audiences to engage positively with the topic. We believe the best way to educate is to entertain and creating a piece of theatre that does both is now more important than ever.
EARLY DAYS
In the midst of the pandemic we had a 'behind closed doors' read-through of the play in its current state with a group of fantastic actors, the pictures of which you can see here. This proved invaluable, due to the feedback from all involved and has proved to be a vital stage in the progression to grow this piece to full production; a perfect example of how working together as an ensemble can help create the strongest story telling.
