A theatre director is appointed by the State to create a street play for the local community about energy conservation. But in a town which has only had electricity for a decade, a struggle breaks out over what the message of the play should be.

International Climate Crisis Plays
The Royal Court Theatre returns to the Edinburgh International Festival for a major new residency that will culminate in a week of lunchtime performances of new short plays written by some of the most significant international new voices.

The five writers from Brazil, China, India, South Africa and Syria will share urgent perspectives from across the world on the global climate crisis through plays specially commissioned to premiere at the festival.

Download the programme here

Swati Simha (India)
Swati is a playwright and research scholar based in New Delhi. She received her Masters from Shanghai Theatre Academy, China and is currently pursuing a PhD at the Centre for Comparative Politics and Political Theory at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. She won the Toto Award for creative writing in 2018. She was one of the playwrights commissioned for the B!rth Festival at Royal Exchange, Manchester. Her play Flypaper Trap was written under the mentorship of Royal Court Theatre at the Writer’s Bloc residency.

Alongside to the performances, the writers will spend two weeks forging new relationships with other international artists in Edinburgh and collaborators from across the UK.

Each artist’s residency will also involve a visit to another partner organisation across the UK who has supported the development of their work. These include HighTide Festival, Leeds Playhouse, Live Theatre in Newcastle and the Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester.

This project is curated in partnership with and supported by the British Council.