The Heretic (play)
Encyclopedia
The Heretic is a British black comedy play by Richard Bean
about climate change and its sceptics. In 2011 it premiered at the Royal Court Theatre
receiving positive reviews directed by Jeremy Herrin
starring Juliet Stevenson
, James Fleet
, Lydia Wilson
and Johnny Flynn
.
activists seriously.
Cassell's daughter Phoebe, an erratic anorexic, is there when her mother meets her new student, Ben Shotter, a fervent environmentalist, and the two are immediately attracted to one another. Even though Ben disagrees with Diane's politics he returns to her one on one tutorials in the hope of meeting Phoebe once more. In their lessons Diane teaches him to view science objectively, and about manipulation of scientific fact. Ben begins to enjoy his lessons and Diane sees potential in him, despite his sometimes irrational and overly emotional outbursts about his estranged family, and his history of self abuse - to Diane's horror he holds a knife to his wrist during one of their tutorials. He calms down when she agrees to let Ben visit her and her daughter during the Christmas break.
Meanwhile, the death threats against Diane become worse. Geoff Tordoff, who provides site services for the campus, including security, is of only limited help, seemingly more concerned with turning off Diane's lights than with the threats.
Kevin discovers that Diane has published her sceptical research regardless of his pressure, and he summons her to a disciplinary hearing, which she refuses to take seriously: using a small soft toy polar bear as her 'union representative'. She is suspended from the university.
Over Christmas Diane and Phoebe go down to their countryside home. Geoff breaks into their home while they are out and hides himself in a bedroom upstairs. A depressed Kevin turns up at their home having been thrown out by his wife, and having lost the research project to another university. Kevin apologises to Diane for his behaviour, and their old romantic history is stirred up again. Ben arrives and he and Phoebe are getting on well until he becomes distracted by Kevin and Diane, who are looking into the opposing university's research, having hacked into their website. They discover that the University has manipulated their research results to support their own climate change standpoint.
Ben plays Phoebe a song he wrote for her, and enthralled she takes him to the barn, where they smoke cannabis. They supply some to Kevin who regrets the end of his relationship to Diane.
Phoebe announces to her mother that she is going to move in with Ben. Diane panics, worried that Ben won't be able to cope with Phoebe's anorexia, or that she might become pregnant. She says that Phoebe has threatened to kill herself if she becomes pregnant, rather than bringing another person into the world. In a blazing row with her mother Phoebe starts to have chest pains, before collapsing with a heart attack. Hearing the family's distress Geoff runs downstairs and administers first aid to Phoebe, admitting to Diane that he and his environmentalist group were the ones sending the threatening messages. They had intended to kidnap her that night.
Eight months later, Diane and Kevin are about to attend Phoebe's marriage to Ben. Phoebe is heavily and happily pregnant. Kevin gives Diane a 'peer review' of her speech, about which she is nervous, and which is a eulogy of mankind's place in the universe. They leave for the wedding.
The Heretic received its premiere at the Royal Court Theatre
in London
in 2011, in a production directed by Jeremy Herrin
. It garnered generally positive reviews especially as it was compared to the critically panned National Theatre
's Greenland and the also well received Water at the Tricycle Theatre
both about global warming. It was praised for its unapologetic non conformist stance, Charles Spencer of The Telegraph
called it
"an absolute corker, funny, provocative and touching, and absolutely resolute in its refusal to lapse into the apocalyptic gloom that usually attends this subject."
Richard Bean
Richard Bean, born in East Hull in 1956, is an English playwright.-Early years:Bean studied Social Psychology at Loughborough University of Science and Technology and graduated with a 2-1 BSc Hons, and went on to become an occupational psychologist, having previously worked in a bread plant for a...
about climate change and its sceptics. In 2011 it premiered at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
receiving positive reviews directed by Jeremy Herrin
Jeremy Herrin
Jeremy Herrin is an English theatre director and currently the Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre in London. He trained as a theatre director at both the Royal Court and the National Theatre...
starring Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Stevenson
Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, CBE is an English actor of stage and screen.- Early life :Stevenson was born in Kelvedon, Essex, England, the daughter of Virginia Ruth , a teacher, and Michael Guy Stevenson, an army officer. Stevenson's father was in the army and was posted to a new place every...
, James Fleet
James Fleet
James Edward Fleet is an English actor. He is most famous for his roles as the bumbling and well-meaning Tom in the 1994 British romantic comedy film Four Weddings and a Funeral, and the dim-witted Hugo Horton in the BBC situation comedy television series The Vicar of Dibley.-Personal life:Fleet...
, Lydia Wilson
Lydia Wilson
Lydia Wilson is a British actress. Since graduating in 2009 from RADA she has performed in numerous television and theatre productions including the Olivier Award winning Blasted by Sarah Kane in 2010 at the Lyric Theatre....
and Johnny Flynn
Johnny Flynn
Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit are an English folk rock band signed to Transgressive Records. They are fronted by Johnny Flynn , an actor, poet and songwriter who cites W.B. Yeats and Shakespeare among his influences...
.
Synopsis
University lecturer Dr Diane Cassell's boss and one time lover Professor Kevin Maloney is trying to suppress her recent research into sea levels, as its results contradict the university's conformist stand upon global warming. Kevin, hoping to win a lucrative and high profile research project for the university, pressurises Diane to tone down her controversial lectures, during which she tries to teach the students to reanalyse accepted views over climate change. He also attempts to make her withhold her research findings until the research project decision has been made. Kevin refuses to take the violent threats that Diane has been receiving from GreenGreen
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
activists seriously.
Cassell's daughter Phoebe, an erratic anorexic, is there when her mother meets her new student, Ben Shotter, a fervent environmentalist, and the two are immediately attracted to one another. Even though Ben disagrees with Diane's politics he returns to her one on one tutorials in the hope of meeting Phoebe once more. In their lessons Diane teaches him to view science objectively, and about manipulation of scientific fact. Ben begins to enjoy his lessons and Diane sees potential in him, despite his sometimes irrational and overly emotional outbursts about his estranged family, and his history of self abuse - to Diane's horror he holds a knife to his wrist during one of their tutorials. He calms down when she agrees to let Ben visit her and her daughter during the Christmas break.
Meanwhile, the death threats against Diane become worse. Geoff Tordoff, who provides site services for the campus, including security, is of only limited help, seemingly more concerned with turning off Diane's lights than with the threats.
Kevin discovers that Diane has published her sceptical research regardless of his pressure, and he summons her to a disciplinary hearing, which she refuses to take seriously: using a small soft toy polar bear as her 'union representative'. She is suspended from the university.
Over Christmas Diane and Phoebe go down to their countryside home. Geoff breaks into their home while they are out and hides himself in a bedroom upstairs. A depressed Kevin turns up at their home having been thrown out by his wife, and having lost the research project to another university. Kevin apologises to Diane for his behaviour, and their old romantic history is stirred up again. Ben arrives and he and Phoebe are getting on well until he becomes distracted by Kevin and Diane, who are looking into the opposing university's research, having hacked into their website. They discover that the University has manipulated their research results to support their own climate change standpoint.
Ben plays Phoebe a song he wrote for her, and enthralled she takes him to the barn, where they smoke cannabis. They supply some to Kevin who regrets the end of his relationship to Diane.
Phoebe announces to her mother that she is going to move in with Ben. Diane panics, worried that Ben won't be able to cope with Phoebe's anorexia, or that she might become pregnant. She says that Phoebe has threatened to kill herself if she becomes pregnant, rather than bringing another person into the world. In a blazing row with her mother Phoebe starts to have chest pains, before collapsing with a heart attack. Hearing the family's distress Geoff runs downstairs and administers first aid to Phoebe, admitting to Diane that he and his environmentalist group were the ones sending the threatening messages. They had intended to kidnap her that night.
Eight months later, Diane and Kevin are about to attend Phoebe's marriage to Ben. Phoebe is heavily and happily pregnant. Kevin gives Diane a 'peer review' of her speech, about which she is nervous, and which is a eulogy of mankind's place in the universe. They leave for the wedding.
Production
| Character | Original Cast, 2011 |
|---|---|
| Director | Jeremy Herrin Jeremy Herrin Jeremy Herrin is an English theatre director and currently the Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre in London. He trained as a theatre director at both the Royal Court and the National Theatre... |
| Dr Diane Cassell | Juliet Stevenson Juliet Stevenson Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, CBE is an English actor of stage and screen.- Early life :Stevenson was born in Kelvedon, Essex, England, the daughter of Virginia Ruth , a teacher, and Michael Guy Stevenson, an army officer. Stevenson's father was in the army and was posted to a new place every... |
| Professor Kevin Maloney | James Fleet James Fleet James Edward Fleet is an English actor. He is most famous for his roles as the bumbling and well-meaning Tom in the 1994 British romantic comedy film Four Weddings and a Funeral, and the dim-witted Hugo Horton in the BBC situation comedy television series The Vicar of Dibley.-Personal life:Fleet... |
| Phoebe Cassell | Lydia Wilson Lydia Wilson Lydia Wilson is a British actress. Since graduating in 2009 from RADA she has performed in numerous television and theatre productions including the Olivier Award winning Blasted by Sarah Kane in 2010 at the Lyric Theatre.... |
| Ben Shotter | Johnny Flynn Johnny Flynn Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit are an English folk rock band signed to Transgressive Records. They are fronted by Johnny Flynn , an actor, poet and songwriter who cites W.B. Yeats and Shakespeare among his influences... |
| Adrian Hood | Geoff Tordoff |
| Leah Whitaker | Catherine Tordoff |
The Heretic received its premiere at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 2011, in a production directed by Jeremy Herrin
Jeremy Herrin
Jeremy Herrin is an English theatre director and currently the Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre in London. He trained as a theatre director at both the Royal Court and the National Theatre...
. It garnered generally positive reviews especially as it was compared to the critically panned National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
's Greenland and the also well received Water at the Tricycle Theatre
Tricycle Theatre
The Tricycle Theatre is located on Kilburn High Road in Kilburn in the London Borough of Brent, England. During the last 30 years, the Tricycle has been presenting plays reflecting the cultural diversity of its community; in particular Black, Irish, Jewish, Asian and South African works, as well as...
both about global warming. It was praised for its unapologetic non conformist stance, Charles Spencer of The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
called it
"an absolute corker, funny, provocative and touching, and absolutely resolute in its refusal to lapse into the apocalyptic gloom that usually attends this subject."
External links
- http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/the-heretic
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2011/feb/11/the-heretic-review
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/8318442/The-Heretic-Royal-Court-review.html