The Heretic

‘I'm a scientist. I don't 'believe' in anything.’

The study of climate science is the cool degree at the university where Dr Diane Cassell is a lead academic in Earth Sciences. At odds with the orthodoxy over the causes of climate change, she finds herself increasingly vilified and is forced to ask if the issue is becoming political as well as personal. Could the belief in anthropogenic global warming be the most attractive religion of the 21st century. What evidence do we need before deciding on policy?

Winner of the 2011 Evening Standard Theatre Best New Play Award.

'a riotous comedy … by Richard Bean, one of our drama’s most wittily maverick voices…. it keeps the great one-liners whizzing and the scientific arguments airborne.' 4 stars – Independent

'an absolute corker, funny, provocative and touching, and absolutely resolute in its refusal to lapse into the apocalyptic gloom that usually attends this subject... exceptionally generous with the jokes… The Heretic is a play on the side of life and optimism, with a faith in humanity that goes markedly against the grain of current thinking.' 4 stars –Telegraph

'it’s a tsunami of jokes, a meltdown of piety and po-facedness… what’s especially pleasing is the combination of unremitting intelligence with unremitting laughs. The Heretic makes most plays look underwritten.' –Observer

'delicious… Above all, though, it is Bean’s writing that scintillates. Pulsing with shrewd humour, it’s risqué and linguistically rich. There are some blissfully surreal touches… The Heretic is clever, imaginative and entertaining theatre.' 4 stars – Evening Standard