Written and performed by Chris Thorpe and directed by Claire O’Reilly, A Family Business is show about “how not to blow up the planet” presented in a Ted talk way by Chris himself and three other actors who provide the dramatisation of events. It was developed with Rachel Chavkin and Lekan Lawal.
The play is about the ever-present threat of nuclear weapons and the people who negotiate nuclear weapons treaties. It’s also about us, the ordinary people who feel very far away from these discussions. He wants us to be talking more about the threat of nuclear weapons.
Before the play starts, Chris is shaking hands with people and getting their names, like an over-enthusiastic usher. It will become clear as the play progresses why he does this as he engages members of the audience to build the narrative in his very cleverly improvised way.
In this play Chris demonstrates the ordinary people behind the extraordinary business of nuclear disarmament.
We hear of his chance meeting in a bar in Brussels with a very smartly dressed woman. Turns out this woman is a very important person indeed. She is one of the people behind The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Her name is Véronique Christory. She is Senior Arms Control Adviser for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Delegation to the United Nations.
“A Family Business is brilliant. A show which encourages us to be part of the urgent conversation and action for the sake of present and future generations. A show full of hope and humanity” – Véronique Christory.
He shows us a website called nukemap (which looks similar to google maps) that can demonstrate if a nuclear bomb was detonated, we can estimate the amount of fatalities and casualties there would be in a square radius. It’s pretty alarming to say the least.
While the messaging is terrifying in this play, the play offers us hope. We can change things by standing up to these nuclear power countries with our collective voice around the world. Why should our lives be in the hands of leaders of these nine countries that have nuclear weapons? This is out of 195 countries.
