Author: jamesrobertson42

Although the advent of social media is such a recent phenomena in our history, we can’t help but see that there is something primordial about the way it twists our human nature. 

“Guidelines” invites you into the dark abyss that is the internet like a Brothers Grimm folk character leading you into a black forest. After years of development, this debut work by writer Pip Williams and director James Nash, under the new company Conglomerate, is brought to the New Diorama stage, standing as both a fantastic introduction to the company and a cracking example of New Diorama’s championing of multi-disciplinary performance.

Rachel Leah-Hosker and Alexandria McCauley are the lead performers who invite us into this world. They take us through the ‘guidelines’, the terms and conditions of the contract that we all unwittingly make when we use the internet. The threat of corruption is always there, but we are encouraged to turn a blind eye to it. Leah-Hosker and McCauley bounce about the stage with satirical abandon, keeping this rendition of the Metasphere darkly comic.

But what happens when the guidelines we have agreed to abide by are manipulated and abused? A video of two girls in a forest at night circulates on social media, the reality behind which is obscured but the ripple effects are very much felt. We are made to question the outward effects of exposure to violent content, on an audience in a theatre and to children online. The evocation of this forest crafts an insidious world, one we step into every time we log online.

Nash’s direction, in tandem with the creative decisions offered by the rest of the team, not only compliment the world Williams has wrought into being, but stand as the very foundations of it. Patch Middleton’s sound design is atmospheric and unsettling, assisting in keeping an audience on the edge of their seats for the sixty minute duration. Coupled with Adi Currie’s evocative lighting design, which pulses with unnerving energy, the deepness of this forest is rendered on stage, filling you with dread as to what may lie beyond the trees. Jida Akil’s work on the set is simple but effective too, utilising swinging ropes from the ceiling to evoke both the vines of the forest and the insidious tendrils that reach down into the bowels of the internet. 

“Guidelines” is a haunting expression of the ancient depths of the human psyche, made eternal and present by the all-encompassing grasp of the internet age. 

Running until 14th February at New Diorama Theatre. 

How can we exist in the era of climate disaster? How can we make a future for ourselves in the present when the damage is already done?

“Scenes from the Climate Era” by Australian, Ngunnawal country playwright David Finnigan presents a kaleidoscope of vignettes cataloguing this era of environmental devastation that man has ushered in, spanning from wildfires in Scotland to biblical storms in Wales. This is the Gate Theatre’s only offering of 2025, so all the stops have been pulled for a show that is both timely and memorable.

The Playground Theatre is the canvas for which director and Gate Theatre Artistic Lead Atri Banerjee can paint the scenes of this play upon. Minimal in presentation, the stage is set with a blue circle in its centre, conveying the fragility of our deep blue planet while surrounding it with the clinical white, decked out with curtains associated with a hospital wing: our planet is in desperate need of care.

Finnigan’s script is both ever-expansive and specific, darting across the past, present and future to encompass what it means to live in this current age. We open with a couple discussing the ethics of having a child during the climate era, demonstrating the clear cross roads we are presented with: do we carry on as normal or make changes to our future? 

The biggest issue that the play tries to balance is the same problem that plagues climate discourse in political and private spheres alike – why should I care about the planet? Not only is this question tackled head on, the very nature of this dichotomy is imbedded into the fabric of the play. The actors switch briskly between climate conferences and monologues of disasters affecting the average person, but we are rarely implored to be scared or convinced or persuaded by some form of argument. Finnigan presents us with truths that we can digest at our own pace, predictably giving no answers to this crisis but instead suggesting how we can continue to exist through it. 

The stages of grief are applied to our relation to the climate crisis, demonstrating how all the feelings we have – denial, optimism, anger, despair – are all natural reactions to a threat that we can no longer avoid. These stages intertwine with the big moments and the small, showcasing how existence is possible in the face of certain change. 

The ensemble are stellar: Miles Barrow, Peyvand Sadeghian, Ziggy Heath and Harriet Gordon-Anderson, who carries over from the original Australian run, are always engaging to watch. At times, the abrupt transfer from one scene to the next does not allow for the actors to fully inhabit the roles in the eyes of a viewer, but the moments of levity are incredibly impactful.

A show that always looks to the future, “Scenes from the Climate Era” is a triumph for the Gate Theatre and a must-see production.