A Family Business at Tobacco Factory Theatres

A Family Business, is a brand new show exploring the human struggle of nuclear disarmament through verbatim theatre.

It’s based on real conversations with activists, academics and diplomats who are working to stop us from blowing up the planet.

Trailer – A Family Business by Chris Thorpe (2024 Tour) from China Plate on Vimeo.

The show is written by Chris Thorpe and has been developed with Rachel Chavkin and Lekan Lawal.

Explaining, Chris Thorpe says: “Like most of my work, this show started by accident and became an obsession – it’s about one of the biggest, and least visible threats to global civilisation, and why we don’t talk about it enough.”

There’s been a steadily growing amount of documentary and verbatim theatre both touring to and being developed in Bristol. The end results are always gripping and informative as well as being engrossing pieces of theatre.

A Family Business looks to be an excellent new entry into the genre this February. It will be coming to Tobacco Factory Theatres as part of a UK and international tour.

It’s the third piece in a trilogy. In 2016 came Confirmation, an exploration of confirmation bias. This was followed by the second installment Status, which delved into nationality and identity.

A Family Business tells the story of how the creation of The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons came to be. It’s based on extensive research which took Thorpe four years to carry out. Experts in the field took part, including the Senior Arms Control Adviser of the International Committee of the Red Cross, UN office – Véronique Christory.

Among the diplomats and activists interviewed by Thorpe were delegates at the First Meeting of State Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which took place in Vienna in 2022.

A Family Business will be at Tobacco Factory Theatres 07 – 08 February 2024.

For more information or to book: https://tobaccofactorytheatres.com/shows/a-family-business/

Cast and Creatives
James  Greg Barnett   
Layla Efé Agwele                      
Véronique Andrea Quirbach
Chris Thorpe as himself

Writer Chris Thorpe
Developed with Rachel Chavkin and Lekan Lawal         
Director Claire O’Reilly
Dramaturg Rachel Chavkin & Jörg Vorhaben                 
Casting director Christopher Worrall
Designer and costume designer Eleanor Field             
Sound designer Anna Clock
Lighting and AV designer Arnim Friess            
Production manager Rob Athorn
Assistant Director Tim Schmultzer

Photography: Photography by Andreas J. Etter

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