THE WORLD WE MADE
CHANGE Festival Commission
CHANGE Festival were thrilled to be the commissioners of brand new play, The World We Made, which premiered on Friday 18 October 2019 at the first CHANGE Festival at Warwick Arts Centre.
This urgent new work is inspired by a book by Jonathon Porritt, the UK’s most eminent environmentalist.
About the Play
What will it take for us to save ourselves?
The World We Made is told by Keli and Luke, two students living in 2050. It shows a glimpse of how our lives could be in the future, if we pull together and change now ... before it’s too late. We take a look at 2050 through these students’ eyes and imagine the dramatic events that have got us there.
This is a story of ordinary and extraordinary people from around the world who together achieve profound change: a Danish scientist, a global pop star, a Canadian truck driver, an African human rights activist, and a community gardener from Yorkshire.
The journey follows personal and collective challenges, the struggles and losses as well as the enormous achievements, painting a compelling picture of the defining moments, breakthroughs and lifestyle revolutions that have made the world ‘work’ in 2050. Based on extensive factual research from Jonathon Porritt’s seminal book of the same name, The World We Made offers a vibrant and dynamic vision of a world that is still available to us – if we act fast on the radical changes that are needed so urgently today.
“Exceedingly well produced, written, directed and performed; a very moving and powerful call to action. What I took from it was hope and encouragement.”
All performances included a post show discussion with an environmental expert or community activist.
Written by Beth Flintoff
Directed by Sophie Austin
Produced by Becky Burchell
Inspired by Jonathon Porritt
Cast Leann O’Kasi, Tom Ross-Williams, Emma Cater
Design Niall McKeever
Lighting Design Stella Kailides & Niall McKeever
Sound Design Ellie Isherwood
Technical Stage Manager Stella Kailides
Touring and Script Requests
The 2020 tour was cancelled due to COVID. To discuss futuret tours or request the script for staging your own performance becky@changefestival.org
2019 public performances included:
18th October - Warwick Arts Centre (SOLD OUT)
Saturday 2nd November - Farnham Maltings, Farnham, Surrey (SOLD OUT)
Guildford School of Acting, University of Surrey, 8th November (SOLD OUT)
Press Coverage
Creative Process
Becky Burchell envisioned a stage show of The World We Made after being hugely inspired by Jonathon Porritt’s book of the same name. The World We Made book describes a planet that is green, fair, connected, and collaborative. Based on extensive research, Jonathon Porritt reveals how we can achieve a genuinely sustainable world by 2050 if we act immediately. Part history, part narrative, The World We Made book describes the key events, technological breakthroughs, and lifestyle revolutions that could transform our planet.
Becky convened the brilliant creative team to bring the stories and research from the book to life. Beth Flintoff, the scriptwriter, worked closely with Jonathon to ensure that the script is not only theatrically compelling, but factually accurate and convincing. We benefited greatly from the support of Professor Tim Jackson and the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity at the University of Surrey who provided invaluable funding, research and touring support for the project. Kim Polman and Reboot the Future and the Amersi Foundation also played a key role in the development of the play.
Sophie Austin, the director, staged the play to be seated ‘in the round’ to immerse the audience in the performance and creative team Niall McKeever, Ellie Isherwood and Stella Kailides devised the innovative design, sound and lighting to have a super-low environmental impact and be light enough to tour on public transport, including the latest portable speaker technology from Minirig and wireless lighting from SXS Events.
The National Theatre Studios kindly provided space for the creative team to conduct a week of research and development in 2018 as well as space for rehearsals in 2019.
With Thanks To…
Our key partners:
Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (University of Surrey)
Jonathon Porritt
Reboot the Future
The Amersi Foundation
Arts Council England
Our supporters:
Minirig, National Theatre Studios, Good Energy, The Albany, SXS Events, Universal Rentals, Patagonia
Our heroes : Liam O’Brien, Mikayl Dawood, Leonard Corfu, Karyn Wilson, Will Monks, Sarah Readman, Nick Flintoff
“Wow! Inspiring, engaging, powerful and poignant, I cannot even begin to describe my emotions. We are all powerful agents for change!”
“I found it incredibly profound. I thought it was a visceral call to action.”
“This story gave me hope, it is looking at the problem from a different angle.”
The image ‘The World We Made’ is by Tibor Miklos.