7 – 8 February
A Family Business
Chris Thorpe shows the ordinary people behind the extraordinary business of nuclear disarmament
Based on conversations with activists, academics and diplomats, theatre maker Chris Thorpe’s new show focuses on the human story of the struggle of nuclear disarmament, and the group of people whose business it is to try to stop us blowing up the planet. Looking at the ordinary people who make extraordinarily important decisions, it examines what qualifies a person to speak on behalf of huge parts of the global population. A Family Business is the final part of Chris Thorpe and Rachel Chavkin’s trilogy of shows that look at global issues from an individual standpoint, following on from Confirmation and Status.
The show tells the story of the creation of The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and is based on extensive research carried out over four years with experts in the field of nuclear disarmament including with Véronique Christory Senior Arms Control Adviser, International Committee of the Red Cross, UN office. Chris has interviewed diplomats and activists from all over the world including delegates at the First Meeting of State Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was held in June 2022 in Vienna. Chris is also working closely with Zainab Rauf Tramboo, participant in the UN’s youth programme Youth4Disarmament.
Véronique is played in the show by Andrea Quirbach alongside two fictional characters, Layla played by Efé Agwale and James played by Greg Barnett, revealing the human dynamics in the high stakes diplomacy of the Treaty’s creation. Chris Thorpe appears as himself to narrate and talk to the audience about the impact the decisions on stage would have on their location.
Like Confirmation and Status, A Family Business is built around the real-world effects on individual and social decision making of the cognitive biases and stories we carry. Confirmation investigated this at the level of the individual, Status at the level of the national – A Family Business expands to look at what happens when those constructed stories of nationality have to communicate with each other at a global level and at the diplomats tasked with doing that.The show aims to open up conversations around nuclear disarmament, both through audience engagement in the show and outside the theatre, at a timely moment in history when countries with nuclear weapons are in conflict.
Chris Thorpe said, “Like most of my work, this show started by accident and became an obsession – it’s about one of the biggest, and least visible threats to global civilisation, and why we don’t talk about it enough.”
Tobacco Factory Theatres
Raleigh Road, Bristol BS3 1TF
Tobaccofactory.com | 0117 902 0344
Running Time: 90 mins (no interval) | Suitable for ages 14+
Content warnings: Strong language, flashing lights and haze and the themes of nuclear warfare.
Photo credit: Andreas J Etter
