Andy Smith, acclaimed theatre maker and part-time lecturer in theatre practice at The University of Manchester was supported by Social Responsibility to create Kids Talk Climate, a new play for young people promoting discussion, reflection and action on this theme.
Kids Talk Climate is a new play for young people. It can be taken into a year 5 or 6 class (9-11 years old) or performed with a group of young people and their parents or carers. It was written by Andy and created in collaboration with award-winning applied theatre practitioner and Manchester alumni Lynsey O’Sullivan.
The work uses a model of making theatre that Andy calls Plays for the People. These aren’t plays written to be rehearsed and presented by actors but instead designed to be read and performed by the audience, who at a certain point discuss the big themes and ideas that the work trying to address.
The plays aim to be a collective act of play and imagination. The works ask questions of acting both in the theatrical as well as political sense. This model and approach to making theatre does this with – hopefully – some joy. Though the themes can be heavy and overwhelming, the aim is for those assembled to consider them. To actively think and talk about what we might (or might not) be doing.
Andy has been developing work like this since 2017 and has written three full length plays well as a few shorter ones. These have been commissioned by and performed in several theatre and non-theatre spaces, for a wide range of ages and diverse groups of people. I’ve long wanted to think about how this form and approach might suit a classroom or school context. Kids Talk Climate builds on the work done in a play from 2024 called A Citizens’ Assembly that has been touring since 2024 and that was also supported by Social Responsibility.
Kids Talk Climate asks the audience of young people to play this group of people meeting. The performance involves preparation for all this as well as the presentation of it. There are opening and closing speeches. There are contributions handed out on scripts. The people in the room are asked play and imagine themselves as people connected to or with an opinion on the subject: scientists, politicians, doubters, activist and refugees.
And from all this we discuss what we are doing, what we might not be doing, and what more we might do.
The piece was developed through test runs with primary schools in the North West as well as one performance in collaboration with Theatre Porto, a company in Elsmere Port focused on making and presenting work for children and young people.
Andy said: “We’ve had a great time with it. Responses have been wide ranging. Classes have taken the discussions they have had into other parts of their learning. In September we’re going to assemble and work out the next phase of the work, which will see the work being taken out to schools and venues across the North West. We’re grateful for the support from the Social Responsibility that has allowed us to build these strong foundations and look forward to taking the work further.”