Theatre: A play on nuclear weapons - (inspired by "me"): A Family Business | UK Première at Warwick Arts Centre, March 1st and 2nd

 “We (…)  witnessed a sight totally unlike anything we had ever seen before. The centre of the city was a sort of white patch, flattened and smooth like the palm of a hand. Nothing remained. The slightest trace of houses seemed to have disappeared. The white patch was about two kilometres in diameter. Around its edge was a red belt, marking the area where houses had burned, extending quite a long way further (…) covering almost all the rest of the city.”  According to witnesses encountered by Junod, in a few seconds after the blast “thousands of human beings in the streets and gardens in the town centre, struck by a wave of intense heat, died like flies. Others lay writhing like worms, atrociously burned. All private houses, warehouses, etc., disappeared as if swept away by a supernatural power. Trams were picked up and hurled yards away, as if they were weightless; trains were flung off the rails (…). Every living thing was petrified in an attitude of acute pain”.    Dr Marcel Junod, The Hiroshima disaster 

Dear colleagues and friends,

On Sunday, we celebrated the 2nd Anniversary of the entry into force of the landmark Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which so many of you worked on to make it a reality. A treaty which aims to ensure that the unspeakable horror is never repeated and nuclear weapons are eliminated.

Today, another dream came true. A play about to change people’s awareness of nuclear weapons through a profound, emotional experience. This play that will be a wake-up call at a time when collective action and concrete, meaningful steps to reduce the risk of nuclear weapons has never been more urgent.

I met Chris Thorpe, a theater writer, at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh in 2018. A long conversation on the TPNW became an inspiration for the play. 

The Premiere in the UK will take place on March 1st and 2nd in Warwick. Spread the word! 

Then in NY, hopefully during the 2nd Meeting of States Parties of the TPNW (Nov 26th - December 1st)

I hope to see you soon in Warwick!

Warm wishes, 

Véronique 

Tickets : https://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/whats-on/MtM-a-family-business/

“Chris Thorpe wants you to think about nuclear weapons because they could kill you, and he wants you to talk about them more often. A theater writer from Manchester, England, with a long record of award-winning creative work on themes of nationality, identity, and borders, Thorpe’s newest project is a play intended to weave the total destructiveness of nuclear weapons into the fabric of everyday conversation. Interview: Chris Thorpe aims to give theatergoers an “emotional explosion” over nuclear weapons – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (thebulletin.org)

A Family Business, the show focuses on the human story of the struggle for nuclear disarmament. The show reveals the ordinariness of the decision makers who manage nuclear risks, and of the diplomats and activists working for disarmament. It portrays the ordinary relationships, the friendships and the antagonism, that exist between them, and demonstrates that the human dynamics between these “experts” are the same that underpin the everyday lives of ordinary people.”

Senior Arms Adviser