What’s it all about?
The decision between taking a stand or wedging your head ever deeper into the sand in exchange for another mindless long shower, nine-hour flight or meat feast pizza. Sod the environment, we want boiling water straight from the tap and a cupboard stocked with plastic wrapped quinoa.
The stakes are raised even higher in Tanya Ronder’s family eco drama with a £2.4million contract and the promise of a dream house on the table. All that’s needed is one little signature with the power to doom the entire world to climate damnation.
This family’s contribution to the world’s environmental crisis might just be the tip of the iceberg, but it’s also the thing that could melt the whole f*cking icecap.
Who’s in it?
Part farce, part psychological thriller, Ronder’s chaotic drama brings together an eclectic bunch of characters. There’s Andrew Whipp’s intensely unlikable Gordon who, faced with the ethical dilemma of securing a future for his daughter that’s either natural disaster free or loaded with cash, suffers a mental break down that Whipp performs with barmy relish.
His wife Serena is equally distasteful, with Ronder handing her many of the play’s most biting lines – could there be a more cutting marital insult than “I feel reduced around you”? – really rubbing in the couple’s hypocritical lifestyle as her Scandi chic minimalism and yoga-loving ways mask a bin overflowing with plastic.
Ready and waiting to lift the lid on this hypocrisy is their Icelandic eco warrior nanny Blundhilde, played earnestly by Salóme R. Gunnarsdóttir who nails the squirming discomfort of treading the delicate line between well-meaning passions and sanctimonious judgement.
What should I look out for?
Chiara Stephenson’s geometric set that sparkles. Literally.
Who was in the press night crowd?
A soggy looking lot drying out after a day of apocalyptic rain. Coincidence or canny press night planning? (Probably the former.)
In a nutshell?
Polar bears rules the roost in Tanya Ronder’s eccentric eco drama that might just challenge you to dispose of your disposable lifestyle.
What’s being said on Twitter?
F*ck the Polar Bears is f*cking awesome #pressnight tomorrow GO GO GO @ Bush Theatre https://t.co/Lnl3YsPZHU
— Jasmin Kent Rodgman (@JasminRodgman) September 15, 2015
At @bushtheatre for f*ck the polar bears. Torrential rain outside so appropriate. Audience quietly steaming as they dry out.
— Joyce Wilson (@JoyceACELondon) September 16, 2015
Will I like it?
Be prepared to squirm in your seat as you recognise the blind eyes many of us no doubt also turn in order to maintain our 21st century lifestyles, from the little ‘must have’ luxuries to our overindulgent appetites. F*ck The Polar Bears may not tell you anything you don’t already know, but it’s certainly likely to lead to increased shouts to ‘turn that f*cking light off’.
F*ck The Polar Bears is playing until 24 October. You can book tickets through the Bush Theatre’s website.