Stephen Kunken as Don Pearlman in Kyoto [Manuel Harlan]

A SERIES of global environmental negotiations leading to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol may not sound the most scintillating of subjects for an immersive drama. But The Royal Shakespeare Company and Good Chance’s co-production of Kyoto, written by Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, is compelling from start to finish.

Much of this is down to American actor Stephen Kunken’s terrific central performance and a superb ensemble. Kunken plays the oil lobbyist and master strategist, Don Pearlman.  A Republican lawyer, his aim was to disrupt the vital debates, serving as a spokesman for a cartel of oil companies.

It’s an inspired choice to use Pearlman’s cynical perspective as the play’s central narrative. He effectively slowed down progress by 10 years – his efforts appreciated by invested countries such as petrostate Saudi Arabia (Raad Rawi), China (Kwong Loke) and USA (Nancy Crane).

Pearlman discredited the climate change scientists and argued for a policy whereby everyone had to be in agreement in order to move forward.

He is a supreme villain, especially in hindsight, but Kunken makes him surprisingly sympathetic, foregrounding his persuasive powers. We assume he will have a moment of revelation but he doesn’t.
Also memorable are Ferdy Roberts as John Prescott, Kristin Atherton as a young Angela Merkel, Jorge Bosch as the Argentinean chair, Ambassador Raul Estrada-Oyuela and Andrea Gatchalian as the delegate for the Pacific island Kiribati.

In Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin’s assured production, the use of Akhila Krishnan’s video projections – interweaving real footage of the Kyoto conference and statistics – ensures the complexities of climate science are accessible and entertaining.

Sitting around a conference table (an evocative set by Miriam Buether) arguing about syntax may not be intrinsically dramatic, but Kyoto is immersive theatre and devastatingly timely. Unmissable.

until May 3
sohoplace.org/