By Graham Hiley.
Three stars out of five.
The middle of a freak and seemingly never-ending heatwave is probably the perfect time to deliver a powerful warning about the impact of climate change.
Atlantis is both hard-hitting and tough viewing as it asks some difficult questions of the audience, not least whether individual protests can really make any difference?
A co-production between Chichester Festival Theatre and Theatr Clwyd, Emily White’s play may be set in a fictional Welsh village but it is very much based on facts and scientific evidence.
Rising sea levels mean it is only a matter of time before every house is washed away so residents are being ordered to move out with no consultation or compensation. Sea defences are deemed not to be cost effective so the evictions are conveniently packaged and sanitised as a measured retreat.
That prompts veteran Greenham Common campaigner Gwen to join a series of demos to try and save the planet while husband Bryn rants and rages and refuses to leave his home but without taking any direct action. The nearest he comes to actual protest is sneaking a burger to escape the enforced vegan diet!
With daughter Claire and her two children Rhiannon and Phillip also crammed into the cottage, tensions rise and tempers flare as the weather closes in with an increasing air of inevitability.
The constant arguments might make this a hard watch at times but they all raise valid questions which will no doubt spark equally heated debates on the way home, likely in gas-guzzling vehicles!
Those may well include what will happen to the inevitable flood of climate refugees who will eventually be forced to flee coastal areas as seas rise by up to a metre.
Countering that is the fact it is still a long way off – though not in comparison to the billions of years the earth has existed. That will be someone else’s problem at an indeterminate point in the future.
And that is very much a thread of this powerful production which argues that politicians will not act until the Thames is lapping at their feet; instead they will hide behind platitudes arguing these are predictions not facts.
Billionaires will not care what happens in the future as long as the money keeps coming in now and it is only when the last tree has died that they will realise it is too late to change. There is no planet B.
Countering that is the dilemma of whether it is right to sacrifice your life and time with your children in order to fight for their future – especially when it is a futile battle in such small numbers.
It poses the question of whether parents should focus on the bit of the world they can actually control and do their primary job of protecting, guiding and sustaining the next generation.
Can their children be educated enough to effect meaningful change? Or is it unfair to even bring another life into the world at all, knowing it is possibly already on an irreversible path to self-destruction?
Which is more selfish – improving your own life possibly at the expense of the planet or neglecting your family to fight for a cause on behalf of people you will never know? And what would it actually achieve?
Big questions but – inevitably – no answers either in real-world politics or in this play which is set over 28 angst-ridden years.
Vivien Parry perfectly conveys Gwen’s anger and frustration as she tries to focus on the bigger long-term picture ahead of the more immediate priority of caring for her family.
She has terrific chemistry with Richard Elfyn as her husband who has a very different outlook yet remains devoted to her even as he descends into dementia while his under-paid and over-worked daughter Claire (Catrin Aaron) seeks solace in a wine glass.
There are a lot of heavyweight issues crammed into around two hours. Quite apart from climate change, it deals with self-starvation, mental health, death, child abandonment, family turmoil, poverty and alcoholism.
Thankfully there is a little bit of occasional humour not least from the younger Rhiannon and Philip, beautifully played here by Iris Dempsey and Rex Bamber.
The older versions, Eirlys Lovell-Jones (making her stage debut) and Alfie Lllewellyn, also take different paths with Rhiannon becoming a campaigning journalist and Phillip opting for a more conventional life with Astrid (Sara Otung).
There is absolutely no doubt that this is a very worthy production which is very well executed although some set-pieces are a little contrived. And it does feel at times as though the message is delivered with a sledgehammer leaving little respite for the audience. A lighter touch might have been more effective.
However, it is an important play and one which, hopefully, will spark debate and increase awareness of such a critical issue. It is certainly not an easy watch…. but then that is probably the aim.
Atlantis runs at Chichester’s Minerva Theatre until Saturday August 15 cft.org.uk/events/atlantis
- In Common is not for profit. We rely on donations from readers to keep the site running. Could you help to support us for as little as 25p a week? Please help us to carry on offering independent grass roots media. Visit: https://www.patreon.com/incommonsoton