June 27th & 30th
Read through – June 27th
Casting – June 30th
London. April 2026. The Labour government elected in 2024 has collapsed, and been replaced by a Conservative/Reform coalition. The south west has just suffered serious flooding. In an office in Whitehall, scientists argue about the seriousness of the threat from climate change, while politicians jockey for position and bicker about public perception.
Resilience pokes fun at politicians, civil servants and scientists. But it also underlines the very real threat of environmental disaster, as the play hurtles towards its dramatic conclusion.
Time Out described it as the “first and best British play on climate change”. And The Guardian called it “an urgent wake-up call…. Waters’ massive achievement is to have made the most important issue of our times into engrossing theatre.”
The play has a cast of five (ages are only for guidance):
- Tessa (female 40s-60s) a savvy career politician, newly appointed as a minister
- Chris (male 40s-60s) a successful businessman, recently elected as an MP and parachuted in to run the new Department of Resilience
- Jenks (male or female 40s-60s) slightly bonkers long-standing independent scientific adviser to government
- Sarika (female 20s-30s) bright young civil servant with a strong green bent
- Will (male 20s-40s) brilliant young scientist concerned about sea level rises
The roles are all of similar size.
There will be an open reading of the play on Wednesday 25 June in the bar at the Playhouse, starting promptly at 7.30. Auditions will be the following Friday 27 June and Monday 30 June, also starting at 7.30. Rehearsals will take place on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings through the summer, though there will be some flexibility on exact dates. Performances will be Wednesday 15 to Saturday 18 October.
The play was originally written in 2009, and substantially revised in 2022. But current affairs move fast! So we have enlisted the help of local scriptwriters in updating it again, with the support and agreement of the author.
For more information – or a digital copy of the latest draft of the script – email Jonathan on vickers.jonathan@gmail.com