Kyoto: Joe Murphy & Joe Robertson

RSC, The Swan

Runs: 2h 45m, one interval, till

4✩✩✩✩. Roderick Dungate.

Review: AD Performance, Saturday 13 July 2024

“Thought provoking, multi-layered, irritating, sometimes lacks clarity.”

Kyoto (Joe Murphy & Joe Robertson) is an absorbing play. It sets out the dynamic, often chaotic, dedicated journey towards a global commitment to curb the relentless movement towards global warming.

Kyoto (COP 3), we learn, was the first global agreement on climate change action, indeed, apparently, the first global achievement on anything.

The passionately held position of developed countries and developing countries made agreement difficult. The journey was made even more difficult by the combined forces of the oil companies (the Seven Sisters) spear-headed by Don Pearlman (Stephen Kunken). Corporate protection was an incredibly powerful force.

It is important that Kyoto does not simply exist as a documentary play about international negotiation; there is a human element. The journey is experienced through Pearlman; the play presents a strong challenge to us, our desire to understand the destructive forces at play in Kyoto negotiations, and our need to empathise with our protagonist. Dramatically this is a bold challenge.

In the first half the challenge is not successfully overcome. The relentless pace reflects both the urgency to reach agreement and the difficulty of reaching it. Disagreements often irritatingly come down to minute detail in language. And all the time our protagonist is oiling the wheels of disagreement. But the pace is too relentless, the language passes us by too fast, clarity is sacrificed.

However, the second half is much more successful. We have time to get to know Don and his wife Shirley. Furthermore we also get to spend more time with the delegates. The human being's side of the story begins to come through.

Don is energetically and powerfully played by Kunken; we do not like him very much, but the pay-off is yet to come. Shirley, his wife, presents the more human face of all this; her closing speech is beautifully played. She successfully grabs us all and forces us to see the humanity in her husband; that although we may disagree with him, he is still, vulnerable , flesh and blood. A superb twist in the play’s action.

Fine ensemble playing from the whole team. noticeable is a great cameo from Ferdy Roberts as John Prescott. He has the unforgettable line: ‘This is negotiation by exhaustion’.

Cast

Tanzania - Jude Akuwudike

Shirley - Janna Augen

Secretariat - Olivia Barrowclough

Raul Estrada-Oyuela - Jorge Bosch

USA - Nancy Crane

Fred Singer - Vincent Franklin

Kiribati - Andrea Gatchalian

Japan - Togo Igawa

Don Pearlman - Stephen Kunken

China - Kwong Loke

Germany - Ingrid Oliver

Al Gore - Dale Rapley

Saudi Arabia - Raad Rawi

Prescott - Derby Roberts

Creatives

Playwrights - Joe Murphy & Joe Robertson

Directors - Stephen Daldry & Juston Martin

Sets - Miriam Buether

Costumes - Natalie Pryce

Lighting - Aideen Malone

Sound - Christopher Reid

Composer - Paul Englishby