Naomi is part of a theatre company who have created a play about living through extinction, but she’s the only one that’s turned up. It’s okay though, she has a plan!

Written by Miranda Rose Hall, it’s a one woman show, taking audiences on a journey, confronting the ecological disaster that is unfolding around us and enlightening us on what it means to be human in an era of man-made extinction.

Directed by Eleanor Taylor, Danielle Henry plays Naomi. It’s a wordy script with a lot of relevant information in it, but Henry’s deliverance is fresh and engaging with a friendly Ted Talk feel to it. There’s a small amount of audience engagement, but combined with the aspect of four cyclists who cycle throughout the show to power its electricity, there is a familiarity to the room and a feeling that we are all in this together which, let’s face it Besties, we are if we want to save the planet!

The play itself is an urgent cry that we need to start taking the ecological crisis seriously. When species of animals, plants and trees are all becoming extinct in our lifetime, we can’t continue to ignore the fact that human behaviour must have something to do with it. Nature is vital for our mental health as well as our physical existence and A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction highlights this need whilst presenting the facts of our destruction.

It's an education we all need and an ignorance that needs to be addressed.

Compassionate, relevant and shockingly sincere!

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Rachel Louise Martin

A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction plays at the New Vic in Staffordshire until 24 June and continues to tour across the UK until 27 September. For more information, please click here.