A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction

'The difference between death and extinction is this: death is to cease to exist. Extinction is to extinguish. I think of death as individual. Extinction is collective.'Naomi belongs to a theatre company that has made a play especially for you, who are living through extinction. The actors haven't shown up yet, but in the meantime Naomi has a plan. Part ritual, part battle cry, A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction is an innovative one-woman show exploring what it means to be human in an era of ecological disaster. Miranda Rose Hall's darkly funny, life-affirming play received its 2023 British premiere in a Headlong and Barbican co-production, directed by Katie Mitchell. A bold experiment in eco-theatremaking, it was powered entirely by bicycles. After opening at London's Barbican, it embarked on a 'zero-travel' tour: the play journeyed to other venues around the UK, whilst the people and materials did not. The play had been first produced at Baltimore Center Stage in 2021, and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.