SEEDLINGS: A Climate Theatre Festival for the Curious and the Hopeful
Presented by Kali Theatre, New Earth Theatre & Tara Theatre
A day-festival of new theatre and discussion exploring the impact of the Climate Crisis on the Global South
29 March 2025 11.30 - 19.00
Tara Theatre
Come and discover what ‘Climate Emergency’ actually means, how it affects us, and what we can do to make a difference.
Seedlings will bring people together to explore stories and imagine a better future. Through thought-provoking performance and discussion, we invite you to help us shape a more hopeful world and give voice to those disproportionately affected by the climate crisis.
Discover how art can be a vehicle for change, as we examine how we can all take action and strive for climate justice.
New Earth Theatre will present a devised work-in-progress piece, inspired by The Nutmeg’s Curse by Amitav Ghosh, drawing on stories of our natural environments and our non-human peers, to explore how these shape our views and actions in a world in crisis
Followed by a presentation by Jennifer Taillefer on The Importance of Climate Literacy in the Performing Arts
Kali Theatre will present three bold new short plays by female South Asian playwrights, imagining the devastating impact of climate change. A family fractures as floodwaters consume England, three teens try to live their lives in an oxygen-starved world, and a woman recalls a homeland that melted beneath her feet. These powerful stories ask how we can imagine more hopeful futures
Followed by a discussion with the writers and climate change experts
Tara Theatre’s new work in progress asks what you get when you mix climate colonialism, western apathy, and young activists seeking reparations for the Global South. Catch a sneak peak of our upcoming spring show.
Followed by an audience discussion with the co-creators of the work
NEW DOGGERLAND by Sayan Kent
In a near-future England submerged by rising waters, a resourceful artisan water bottler, her disillusioned daughter, and her grieving brother grapple with survival, morality, and family tensions, leading to an emotional fracture as the encroaching tide threatens them all.
2120 by Ilina Jha
A determined optimist. A rebellious lesbian. A thoughtful activist.
Three normal teenagers living totally normal lives—hanging out in wastelands and surviving on rationed oxygen. Can hope ever flourish in this post-apocalyptic world?
GOLDILOCKS by Atiha Sen Gupta
(logline tbc)
Q&A Panel Discussion
BIOGS
Sayan Kent is a playwright, librettist, and composer. She has written and composed extensively for theatre, collaborating with the RSC, Birmingham Rep, Belgrade Theatre, Kali Theatre, Liverpool Royal Court, New Vic, Unicorn and London Bubble, amongst others. Her plays have been shortlisted for the John Whiting and Terrence Rattigan Awards, longlisted for the Bruntwood and Papatango Prizes, and in 2024 she won the Page Turner Award for TV drama series. She wrote the libretto for It Takes a City (nominated for a classical Ivor) performed by a 2,000-strong chorus at the Royal Albert Hall, and composed the music for Her Day, a new opera premiering during Coventry City of Culture.
Ilina Jha (she/her) is a Birmingham-based playwright, poet, and journalist. She was selected for the Kali Theatre Discovery Programme in 2023, leading to the debut of her first play Conversation (2024) at the Birmingham Rep Theatre, directed by Beth Kapila. Ilina has written and contributed to 90 articles for Redbrick Newspaper, and is a publisher of poetry and non-fiction prose on Medium. She was invited to perform at her first poetry reading at an event with The Emma Press in September 2024, where she read alongside Laurie Bolger, Serge ♆ Neptune, and Z.R. Ghani. You can find her on Instagram @ilinawrites where she shares her poetry and book reviews.
Atiha Sen Gupta is a playwright and screenwriter. Plays include: WHAT FATIMA DID (2009), STATE RED (2014), COUNTING STARS (2015 – 2016), CASTAWAYS (2017), ABI (2018) and GIG (2019). Atiha’s work has been nominated for the Evening Standard’s Most Promising Playwright Award and the John Whiting Award (2010) and Amnesty International’s Freedom of Expression Award (2015). For TV, Atiha has written for SKINS, HOLBY CIY and EASTENDERS. She is currently writing a short film for Film4 and Slam Films. Atiha is interested in telling the stories of those who stitch the red carpet rather than those who stand on it.