Book Reviews: 100 Plays to Save the World

It just 200 pages, this is a great read that can kick-start theatrical direction but also provoke internal debate by making those reading it consider their own accountability in relation to the climate crisis, and artistically respond.

Yes – of course the reader can dip in, find an appropriate play-text, and produce a production about the climate crisis; but this book gets you to think beyond just play-finding: by educating you about the hows and whys surrounding the situation we find ourselves in.

The selection is pretty timeless: Yes, there's a Shakespeare, an Ibsen, a Brecht and a Beckett, but all are made thematically relevant to the here and now. A sizable portion are new plays from new playwrights, with a good number coming from the last five years. It rightly includes plays written by global majority playwrights, thus allowing different cultural perspectives to be brought to the reader's attention.