Richard Bean’s The Heretic at The Lowry

‘I’m a scientist. I don’t “believe” in anything.’ The Heretic – a comedy by Richard Bean, writer of One Man, Two Guvnors and the 2011 Winner of the Evening Standard Award for Best New Play – opens the Library Theatre’s new season at The Lowry in Salford Quays. The Heretic exposes Bean’s linguistically rich writing and undeniably intelligent maverick voice. The play pivots on the climate change debate as protagonist Dr Diane Cassell, a paleogeophysics and geodynamics lecturer in the fictional earth sciences department at York University, goes public with her reservations and scepticisms about the accepted science of global warming. Bean’s provocative comedy explores Diane’s unconventional relationships with her anorexic eco-warrior daughter, her boss who thinks global warming is a cash cow – and not to mention death threats from the Sacred Earth Militia. Far from an apocalyptic, doomsday drama, this hilarious comedy doesn’t try to preach, criticise or dictate; it simply dares us to challenge our prevailing beliefs about climate change and how it affects us.

Thu 27 Sep – Sat 13 Oct, The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays, M50 3AZ, Tel: 0843 208 6000, 7.15pm daily (2.30pm matinee Thu & Sat), £13 – £19.50, www.thelowry.com