The Donmar Warehouse Podcast

Climate Conversation Five: THE TRIALS and Better Futures Dawn King (writer of The Trials) talks with Anjali Raman-Middleton and Tolmeia Gregory about youth activism and the inspiration it gives us all to take responsibility for a brighter future. Recorded during the run of The Trials on 16 August 2022. Dawn King is an award-winning writer working in theatre, film, TV, VR and radio. Her play THE TRIALS was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize 2021. ADDICTIVE BEAT, a play for Boundless Theatre, UK, will be performed in a converted church in Southwark Park in September 2022. Her radical reinterpretation of THE CHERRY ORCHARD with director Katie Mitchell opens at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg in November 2022. She is also working on feature film PIG CHILD for Delaval Film and the BFI and adapting her play FOXFINDER for the screen with Elation Pictures and the BFI. Dawn’s previous work for the stage includes; FOXFINDER, BRAVE NEW WORLD, CIPHERS and SALT. Website: www.dawn-king.com Anjali Raman-Middleton is an A level student, environmental activist and co-founder of Choked Up, a campaign formed by black and brown young people to highlight the disproportionate impact toxic air pollution has on marginalised communities. Currently looking for gap year internships in environmental policy for September 2022-September 2023. Article link: https://www.standard.co.uk/optimist/sustainable/climate-campaigners-gen-zero-young-activists-justice-cop26-b962469.html Socials: @anjali_lrm Tolmeia Gregory is a climate justice activist and digital artist, formerly known as ‘Tolly Dolly Posh’. Tolmeia launched her collection of animated stickers as a Varified Artist on the GIPHY platform. Alongside her activism, she works as a graphic designer and illustrator, collaborating with brands and clients on a variety of different projects and campaigns. Tolmeia is a resident artist at The Wilson, Cheltenham as part of the We Are Creators programme. She is also the host of the podcast, IDEALISTICALLY. Website: https://www.tolmeiagregory.com/ Podcast: https://www.tolmeiagregory.com/idealistically-podcast/ Socials: @tolmeia Zoë Svendsen is an associate artist at the Donmar Warehouse and a director, dramaturg and researcher. As artistic director of METIS Zoe creates research-led interdisciplinary performance projects exploring contemporary political subjects, including Love Letters to a Liveable Future (Season for Change/Cambridge Junction), Factory of the Future (Oslo Architecture Triennale), WE KNOW NOT WHAT WE MAY BE (Barbican Pit), World Factory (New Wolsey Theatre/ Young Vic), 3rd Ring Out - TippingPoint Commission Award. As dramaturg she has worked with Shakespeare’s Globe, Young Vic, the National Theatre and the RSC. Svendsen lectures in Drama and Performance at the University of Cambridge. Clare Slater is the Head of New Work at the Donmar Warehouse. She also works as a freelance adaptor and dramaturg. She sits on the Creative Council of Shakespeare’s Globe and previously worked as Executive Director of the Gate Theatre in Notting Hill. Prior to that, Clare was the Assistant Literary Manager at the National Theatre, and worked in TV and film development. Produced by Heather Pasfield with support from Josh Parr and Dadiow Lin for the Donmar Warehouse. Audio Recording: Ed Borgnis, Simon Hendry, Max Hunter and Keegan Curran. Audio Edit and Mix: Ed Borgnis Reading list: Tolmeia Gregory's podcast - https://www.tolmeiagregory.com/idealistically-podcast/ Anjali's CHOKED UP campaign - https://twitter.com/ChokedUp_UK?s=20&t=xBkgwCYQCkscv_65RN7ifQ Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K Wilkinson's book, ALL WE CAN SAVE - https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9780593237083?gC=5a105e8b&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9ZGYBhCEARIsAEUXITVZEE7FL97MeErCMJVBAbEPd2MKo-2nI1w91nT6_slWo9aKXhTULm8aAuQWEALw_wcB

A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART TWO: The Place of Complexity in the Climate Crisis Climate Conversation Four: DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2 and The Place of Complexity James Macdonald (Director of Doll’s House, Part 2) talks with Simmone Ahiaku and Farhana Yamin about living in a world of increased polarisation. What place does complexity have? Is it possible to hold more than one viewpoint at a time? And how does this relate to the ever-evolving climate crisis? Recorded during the run of Doll’s House, Part 2 on 13 July 2022. James Macdonald James was associate and deputy director of the Royal Court from 1992 – 2006. More recently he has worked for the National Theatre, the Donmar, the Almeida, Hampstead Theatre, the Royal Court and in the West End – directing work by Lucas Hnath, Caryl Churchill, Lucy Kirkwood, Annie Baker, Mike Bartlett, Cordelia Lynn, Rory Mullarkey, William Congreve, Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Anne Carson and Euripedes. In New York he has worked for the Public Theater, the Lincoln Center, the Atlantic, NYTW - and on Broadway for MTC and Roundabout. He also directed the film version of A NUMBER for HBO/BBC. https://www.casarotto.co.uk/clients/james-macdonald Farhana Yamin is an internationally recognised environmental lawyer, climate change and development policy expert. She has advised leaders and ministers on climate negotiations for 30 years, representing small islands and developing countries and attending nearly every major climate summit since 1991. In addition to founding Track 0, she is a senior advisor to SYSTEMIQ and an FRSA. She was voted number two on the 2020 BBC’s Power List with the judges describing her as a ‘powerhouse of climate justice’ and is active in numerous community-based social initiatives in Camden. https://www.chathamhouse.org/about-us/our-people/farhana-yamin https://unfccc.int/climate-action/momentum-for-change/advisory-panel/farhana-yamin @farhanaclimate Simmone Ahiaku is a campaigner, geographer, writer and educator who has contributed to environmental, social and cultural work in Bristol, London and across the UK. Simmone has worked on air pollution, divestment and climate justice campaigns. She currently uses facilitated workshops to explore climate colonialism, and examples of climate resistance and movements from the past and present day. https://linktr.ee/simmoneahiaku https://shado-mag.com/author/simmone-ahiaku/ instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simmoneahiaku/?hl=en Produced by Heather Pasfield for the Donmar Warehouse Co-ordinators: Dadiow Lin, Josh Parr Audio Recording: Ed Borgnis, Simon Hendry and Max Hunter Audio Edit and Mix: Ed Borgnis

MARYS SEACOLE: Legacies of Inequality and the Climate Crisis Nadia Latif (director of Marys Seacole) talks with Courttia Newland and Indra Adnan about acts of care. They discuss how the play dissects intergenerational legacies of inequality and colonialism, and how this speaks to the climate crisis. What kind of story-structures are needed now to take better care of each other and create a new world? Recorded during the run of Marys Seacole on 23 May 2022. Nadia Latif is a theatre maker and film director. She trained as a director at RADA under Bill Gaskill. She has worked for buildings & companies including the Almeida, Royal Shakespeare Company, National, Bush, Theatre503 and Arcola. She is currently developing a number of film and television projects. She was Associate Director of the Young Vic theatre from 2018 to 2020. In 2019 she was a Screen International Star of Tomorrow. In 2020 she was a fellow of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. https://www.independenttalent.com/directors/nadia-latif/ @HerrDirector Courttia Newland has published nine works of fiction, including his debut, The Scholar. His latest collection of speculative fiction stories, Cosmogramma, was published in 2021by Canongate (UK) and Akashic Books (US). He has been awarded the Tayner Barbers Award for science fiction writing and the Roland Rees Bursary for playwriting. As a screenwriter he has co-written two feature length films for the Steve McQueen BBC series Small Axe, of which Lovers Rock was jury selected for Cannes, and opened New York Film Fest 2020.Small Axe won the LA Critics Circle award 2020 for Best Picture. https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/courttia-newland https://courttianewland.com/ @courttianewland Indra Adnan is Founder and Co-initator of The Alternative Global, a socio-political platform serving systemic transformation. AltGlobal publishes a Daily Alternative news blog, develops cosmolocal agency networks (CANs) and connects planetary regeneration projects. Indra is concurrently a socio-psychotherapist, writer and consultant on soft power. Clients have included the Danish and Brazilian governments, World Economic Forum and NATO. Her book The Politics of Waking Up: Power and Possibility in the Fractal Age was a Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year in 2021. https://indraadnan.global/ @indraadnan Produced by Josh Parr, Dadiow Lin and Heather Pasfield for the Donmar Warehouse Audio Recording: Ed Borgnis, Simon Hendry and Max Hunter Audio Edit and Mix: Ed Borgnis Additional Links - The Alternative Global www.thealternative.org.uk - The Human Givens Institute https://www.hgi.org.uk - The work of Minna Salami https://msafropolitan.com/

HENRY V: Colonialism and the Climate Crisis Max Webster (director of Henry V) talks with Professor Farah Karim-Cooper and Indra Adnan about the relationship between colonialism and the climate crisis. They discuss the influence of Shakespeare on the construction of English identity, and how this was later deployed to justify Britain’s colonial project. They also reflect on human development, ‘growing up’, and recognising our past mistakes. Recorded during the run of Henry V on 2 March 2022. Max Webster is an award-winning theatre director, specialising in new work, opera and live music events. Max has directed major productions in London at The Old Vic, The Globe Theatre and English National Opera, as well as across Europe, North America and Asia. He is currently an Associate Director of the Donmar Warehouse. Website: https://maxwebsterdirector.co.uk/ Farah Karim-Cooper is Co-Director of Education at Shakespeare's Globe and Professor of Shakespeare Studies at King's College London. She curates the Shakespeare and Race Festival and Anti-racist Shakespeare Webinars at the Globe and is the author of several publications on Shakespeare, theatre and race. Her forthcoming book is called The Great White Bard: How to Talk about Shakespeare and Race with One World and Viking Books (2023). Website: https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/bio/dr-farah-karim-cooper/ Indra Adnan is Founder and Co-initator of The Alternative Global, a socio-political platform serving systemic transformation. AltGlobal publishes a Daily Alternative news blog, develops cosmolocal agency networks (CANs) and connects planetary regeneration projects. Indra is concurrently a socio-psychotherapist, writer and consultant on soft power. Clients have included the Danish and Brazilian governments, World Economic Forum and NATO. Her book The Politics of Waking Up: Power and Possibility in the Fractal Age was a Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year in 2021. Website: https://indraadnan.global/ Twitter: @indraadnan Produced by Josh Parr, Dadiow Lin and Heather Pasfield for the Donmar Warehouse Audio Recording: Ed Borgnis, Simon Hendry, Max Hunter Audio Edit and Mix: Ed Borgnis - Mentioned resources: - The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race, ed. Ayanna Thompson - Keep an eye out for The Great White Bard: Shakespeare, Race and the Future of His Legacy, by Farah Karim-Cooper - out from One World, May 2023 - Shakespeare's Globe podcasts: on Shakespeare and Race - Anti-racist Shakespeare Webinar Series, sponsored by Cambridge University Press, Shakespeare's Globe Additional Links The Alternative Global: www.thealternative.org.uk The Human Givens Institute: https://www.hgi.org.uk The work of Minna Salami: https://msafropolitan.com/ - Further reading (Suggested by Zoë Svendsen) Naomi Klein, On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal (2019) Kate Raworth, Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21 st -century Economist (2017) Kate Fletcher, Earth Logic (2019) Website: https://earthlogic.info/ Amitav Ghosh, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (2017) Amitav Ghosh, The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis (2021) Cara Daggett, ‘Petromasculinity: Fossil Fuels and Authoritarian Desire’ in Millenium: Journal of International Studies (2018) Website: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0305829818775817 Indra Adnan, The Politics of Waking Up: Power and Possibility in the Fractal Age (2021) George Monbiot, Out of the Wreckage: a New Politics for an Age of Crisis (2017) Rob Nixon, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor (2011)

FORCE MAJEURE: Climate Negotiations and Family Drama Michael Longhurst (director of Force Majeure and Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse) talks with the renowned international climate lawyer Farhana Yamin, who draws on 20 years at the frontline of global climate negotiations to relate the themes of the play to the climate crisis. Recorded on the set of Force Majeure, 24 January 2022. Michael Longhurst is the Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse, where he will direct The Band’s Visit this autumn. Previously he has directed work at the National Theatre, Royal Court Theatre, Almeida Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, Hampstead Theatre, Kiln, Young Vic and in the West End and on Broadway. His multi-cast production of Constellations won the 2022 Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Play, and Caroline, or Change, which he directed in London and on Broadway, was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival. Farhana Yamin is an internationally recognised environmental lawyer, climate change and development policy expert. She has advised leaders and ministers on climate negotiations for 30 years, representing small islands and developing countries and attending nearly every major climate summit since 1991. In addition to founding Track 0, she is a senior advisor to SYSTEMIQ and an FRSA. She was voted number two on the 2020 BBC’s Power List with the judges describing her as a ‘powerhouse of climate justice’ and is active in numerous community-based social initiatives in Camden. - Read more https://www.chathamhouse.org/about-us/our-people/farhana-yamin https://unfccc.int/climate-action/momentum-for-change/advisory-panel/farhana-yamin Twitter: @farhanaclimate Produced by Josh Parr, Dadiow Lin and Heather Pasfield for the Donmar Warehouse Audio Recording: Ed Borgnis, Simon Hendry, Max Hunter Audio Edit and Mix: Ed Borgnis - Further reading (Suggested by Zoë Svendsen) Naomi Klein, On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal (2019) Kate Raworth, Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21 st -century Economist (2017) Kate Fletcher, Earth Logic (2019) Website: https://earthlogic.info/ Amitav Ghosh, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (2017) Amitav Ghosh, The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis (2021) Cara Daggett, ‘Petromasculinity: Fossil Fuels and Authoritarian Desire’ in Millenium: Journal of International Studies (2018) Website: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0305829818775817 Indra Adnan, The Politics of Waking Up: Power and Possibility in the Fractal Age (2021) George Monbiot, Out of the Wreckage: a New Politics for an Age of Crisis (2017) Rob Nixon, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor (2011)

Climate Conversations is a new podcast series, bringing together Donmar directors and leading climate and social justice thinkers. We want to better understand what it means to make theatre in the context of the climate crisis. How can the stories we tell, and the ways we tell them, contribute to a positive future? This podcast series was recorded during an 18-month research project the Donmar is currently undertaking (2021-2023). Bringing together our artists and staff, facilitated by Zoë, this research is exploring new ways of working and thinking in order to create the conditions for more climate-careful theatre-making. Curated by Donmar Artistic Associate and Climate Dramaturg, Zoë Svendsen. Hosted by Clare Slater, Head of New Work, Donmar Warehouse. Produced by Josh Parr, Dadiow Lin and Heather Pasfield for the Donmar Warehouse Audio Recording: Ed Borgnis, Simon Hendry, Max Hunter Audio Edit and Mix: Ed Borgnis - Further reading (Suggested by Zoë Svendsen) Naomi Klein, On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal (2019) Kate Raworth, Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21 st -century Economist (2017) Kate Fletcher, Earth Logic (2019) Website: https://earthlogic.info/ Amitav Ghosh, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (2017) Amitav Ghosh, The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis (2021) Cara Daggett, ‘Petromasculinity: Fossil Fuels and Authoritarian Desire’ in Millenium: Journal of International Studies (2018) Website: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0305829818775817 Indra Adnan, The Politics of Waking Up: Power and Possibility in the Fractal Age (2021) George Monbiot, Out of the Wreckage: a New Politics for an Age of Crisis (2017) Rob Nixon, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor (2011)

In this special episode of the Donmar Warehouse podcast, Donmar Associate Artist Prasanna Puwanarajah will speak to Monuments director Sara Aniqah Malik and company members Alexandra Elliott and Omar Williams about the conversations they had during the devising process for this bold short film. Monuments is a Donmar Local Project exploring the legacy of the British Empire and its impact on our community. Watch the film at youtube.com/donmarwarehouse. A full transcript is available at donmarwarehouse.com. This episode of the Donmar Warehouse podcast was produced by Hannah Hethmon and Julia Letts for Better Lemon Creative Audio. Monuments was rehearsed and filmed in 2020 with cast and crew adhering to Government guidelines throughout.

This special edition of the Donmar Warehouse podcast was recorded in August 2020 to accompany the socially distanced sound installation BLINDNESS. In this episode, writer Simon Stephens interviews Production Consultant Professor Hannah Thompson to unpack the representations of blindness in BLINDNESS - both José Saramago’s dystopian novel and this adaptation. They take the long view across centuries of literature whilst discussing the exciting possibilities for creatively centring the non-visual in theatre today.

Fiona Mountford hosts a discussion with director Lyndsey Turner and playwrights Juliet Gilkes Romero and Lucy Kirkwood exploring the impact Caryl Churchill’s work has had on their practice. Juliet Gilkes Romero is a playwright and journalist. She has reported for the BBC from countries including Ethiopia, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. As a playwright her work includes Day of the Living which played at The Other Place as part of the RSC’s Mischief Festival in 2018 and At the Gates of Gaza, for which she won the Writers’ Guild Best Play Award in 2009. Juliet’s most recent work includes the play The Whip which premiered at the RSC last year. She also worked on BBC 4’s 2019 monologue series Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle. Lucy Kirkwood is a playwright and screenwriter. Her most recent plays include The Welkin and Mosquitos, which both premiered at the National Theatre, The Children, which premiered at the Royal Court, Chimerica which premiered at the Almeida before transferring to the West End and winning the Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle awards for Best New Play. Lucy won the inaugural Berlin Lee UK Playwrights Award in 2013. Lyndsey Turner is a theatre director. Her work at the Donmar includes Brian Friel’s Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Fathers and Sons, Faith Healer and Aristocrats. Her other theatre credits include Top Girls, Saint George and the Dragon, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Edgar and Annabel, There is a War at the National Theatre, Girls and Boys at the Royal Court, Tipping The Velvet at Lyric Hammersmith, Hamlet at the Barbican and Chimerica at the Almeida and in the West End.

Fiona Mountford hosts a discussion with Dominic Cooke and Lyn Gardner about Caryl Churchill’s influence on today’s theatre-makers. Dominic Cooke is a theatre, film, and television director based in London. Dominic was Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre from 2007 to 2013. During his tenure, he directed Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, for which he was nominated as Best Director for the Evening Standard Awards. His other credits include Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Here We Go, and The Comedy of Errors for the National Theatre, where his critically acclaimed production of Follies was nominated for 10 Olivier awards, including Best Director. Dominic also directs for television and film, and his credits include his adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry VI Parts 1 and 2 for The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the feature film On Chesil Beach. Lyn Gardner is a journalist and novelist. She is currently associate editor of The Stage and reviews productions for Stagedoor. She has written about theatre and performance for The Guardian and The Independent, and she was a founder member of City Limits, the largest publishing co-op in Europe. She currently writes a strand of articles for the British Council on Culture After Brexit. Awards for her work include: The 2013 Action for Children’s Arts Award for Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Arts, the 2017 Total Theatre Significant Contribution Award for her work on the Edinburgh Fringe, the 2017 UK Theatre Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre, and a 2018 Tonic Award. Her novels for children include Into the Woods and Out of the Woods, the Ghastly McNasty series, and the Olivia Stage School and Rose Campion novels.