Robert Tanitch reviews 2071 at Royal Court Theatre, London SW1
In the Royal Court’s heyday, and I am talking about the era when Harley Granville Barker ran the theatre between 0ctober 1904 and June 1907, theatregoers could have seen plays by Bernard Shaw, Granville Barker, Elizabeth Robins, Euripides, St John Hankin, Gerhart Hauptmann, W B Yeats, Arthur Schnitzler, John Masefield, Henrik Ibsen and Maurice Maeterlinck.
What can theatregoers see at the Royal Court today?
The answer is “a play exploring the future of life on earth and climate change” by Duncan Macmillan and Chris Rapley, directed by Katie Mitchell; except 2071 is not a play at all, it’s a lecture.
Duncan Macmillan is the writer and director who, with Robert Icke, staged a radical and exciting adaptation of George Orwell’s novel, 1984.
There is no excitement in 2071. There is no drama and the visuals are of no help. Had Bernard Shaw written a play about global warming I think we can safely say there would have been drama, debate and wit.
The 75-minute lecture is delivered by Chris Rapley CBE, who is the Chair of the London Climate Change Partnership and Professor of Climate Science at University College, London.
He remains seated throughout and bombards the audience with facts which are difficult to take in at one go. It would have been better if he had spoken from notes and engaged with the audience.
A better place for a lecture of this kind would be on television where it would have the full video back-up and somebody with the charisma of Dr Brian Cox to put it across.
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