Kyoto is a dynamic, dramatic retelling of the 1997 Kyoto Climate Conference, and the events leading up to it. It’s a new play, written by Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, and produced by the RSC in collaboration with Good Chance.

Walking into the Swan Theatre, everyone in the audience is presented with a delegate lanyard. Some even take seats at the mid-century conference table which serves as a stage… We are not only eye-witnesses to the conference, but directly involved in the proceedings.

Our unlikely protagonist is Don Pearlman - an American lawyer, fresh from the Reagan administration, who brashly pulls strings, not so far behind the scenes, striving to upset, unsettle and aggravate, in the name of theatrically sinister Big Oil.

Pearlman orchestrates his own Shakespearean Tragedy: Stephen Kunken plays a tour-de-force with all the energy, charisma and dastardly cunning of Richard III. As the date creeps closer to 1997, Pearlman’s nemesis is found in an unlikely place: the affable and diplomatic Raúl Estrada-Oyuela (Jorge Bosch), who becomes the Chair of negotiations.

On paper, the action barely leaves the conference room, and the plot concerns a long-winded and bureaucratic process (there’s a whole, frantic sequence revolving around punctuation). However, in practice, the play is fast-paced, witty, and genuinely thrilling.

Much of this comes down to Kunken’s skill as a performer, and Murphy and Robertson’s excellent scriptwriting - the cast as a whole completes the picture. The conference is, after all, an historical event, albeit with some moments dramatised for effect. The assembly of world representatives includes John Prescott (Ferdy Roberts) and Angela Merkel (Ingrid Oliver), both of whom repeatedly raised laughter from the audience.

It’s a feat of Stephen Daldry’s direction that the clamour of political voices never clash so much that the message (or the plot) is lost. Memorably, Andrea Gatchalian’s voice is brought to the fore, even among the Superpowers at the table, as she speaks on behalf of the people of Kiribati and other island nations, whose lives are tangibly at risk from the effects of climate change. In contrast, Don Pearlman’s wife, Shirley (Jenna Augen) often feels like the most human character on the stage - representing herself and her family in private, rather than speaking for a whole country.

Kyoto celebrates a hard-won victory for climate reform, while acknowledging that the achievements at the conference were a drop in a rising ocean, and that more needs to be done.  It’s also slick, funny and exciting to watch - last night’s audience were on their feet applauding. Don’t miss it.

Five Stars

Kyoto was reviewed on Tuesday 25 June by Jessica Clixby at the RSC’s Swan Theatre, where it plays until Saturday 13 July.

In parallel with Kyoto, the RSC and Good Chance present Conference: a programme of art, performance and discussion exploring the themes of the play, on Friday 5 & Saturday 6 July.