A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction

Headlong are excited to present an innovative touring model conceived by Katie Mitchell and developed with the support of Jérôme Bel and Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne. The play tours whilst the people and materials do not. Sharing learning from Europe, the Barbican hosts the beginning of this journey, the first of its kind in the UK.

In each city a blueprint of this show will be uniquely brought to life by local teams, in a daring zero travel tour. It forms part of a ground-breaking international experiment in reimagining theatre in a climate crisis.

This is Headlong’s second major touring experiment. They are also the company behind Signal Fires, a national festival during the pandemic that saw over forty touring companies return to the origins of theatre: telling stories to audiences in their thousands around fires. Together with Katie Mitchell, they continue to rethink theatre making in a time of crisis. 

Internationally renowned artist Mitchell, who has made six pieces about climate change, directs this new version of Miranda Rose Hall’s acclaimed play. Both director and writer share an artistic and social awareness about the intersection between feminism and eco-activism. 

Mitchell is drawing on and furthering her work on the Sustainable Theatre? project with this production and tour, which she originally conceived with the support of the French choreographer Jérôme Bel and Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne. The three joined forces to imagine a theatre experiment of international scope that would be ecological both in its content and in its production process.