Fracked!: Or: Please Don't Use the F-Word

Description

How would you feel about sitting in front of that nice old village pub on a sunny afternoon while convoys of 40-ton tankers roll past six feet away? Deerland Energy's plans to drill for shale gas in the pretty village of Fenstock are going well. The company is looking at big profits. They can count on the support of distinguished scientists working in university departments funded by the energy companies while at local level, Councillor Pilbeam, Chair of the Planning Committee, seems to be open to lucrative offers. The only slight snag is a ragged band of protesters, reluctantly led by retired academic Elizabeth Blackwood. Surely she's just another 'mad old biddy', as she's characterised by ruthless PR guru Joe Selby. This new razor-sharp black comedy by Alistair Beaton takes a timely look at the conflicted core of planetary energy and earthly power. Fracked! received its world premiere at the Chichester's Minerva Theatre on 8 July 2016.

Alistair Beaton is a much-praised political satirist whose television work includes the BAFTA-nominated The Trial of Tony Blair and such classics as Spitting Image. His plays include the award-winning Feelgood in the West End and his version of Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at Chichester Festival Theatre and the West End (2012).

Alistair Beaton rediscovers and restores the lost art of political satire in this hilariously timely portrait of new Labour fibbing and deceiving -- Benedict Nightingale * The Times on "Feelgood" * Political satire was joyfully restored to the stage last night . . . A satirical treat to savour -- Nicholas de Jongh * Evening Standard on "Feelgood" * Caledonia goes from knock-about humour to something close to tragedy, finishing with tremendous power on a note of political outrage as playwright and director remind us that in the financial follies of the rich and powerful, it is the ordinary person who pays the price. * Scotsman on "Caledonia" *