China Plate and Staatstheater Mainz present

Talking About The Fire

Nuclear weapons could destroy us all, right now - so why aren't we talking about them?

#TalkingAboutTheFire

Run time: 90 minutes

Age: 14+

Content warnings: Strong language and themes of nuclear warfare.

Tickets & Resources

A man sitting at a coffee table, holding a mug, with a yellow teapot on the table with smoke escaping.

Time Out

5 stars

Broadway World

5 stars

The Stage

4 stars

"If you don't know the work of Manchester-based playwright Chris Thorpe, you should, because he is one of the UK's most thoughtful theatre-makers, tackling subjects and issues that others shy away from."

Lyn Gardner (Stagedoor)

A photograph of Chris Thorpe sat at a keyboard, singing into a microphone. Behind him is a large projection screen. To his right is a table with a kettle and laptop on it.

Talking About The Fire

Created by Chris Thorpe and Claire O’Reilly
Written and performed by Chris Thorpe
Developed with Rachel Chavkin

Nuclear weapons could destroy us all, right now – so why aren’t we talking about them?

Sometimes the threat slides into view – Russia invades Ukraine – but that doesn’t make the weapons more dangerous. They’re always dangerous. And one day, deliberately or accidentally, they’ll be used again.

From the team that created the award-winning Status and Confirmation, comes a show about a new nuclear weapons treaty – one that’s trying to give the power to eliminate nuclear weapons to the states, and people, who don’t possess them.

It’s a show and a conversation. We’ll talk about where we are, where we live, and why it’s important people like us talk about this at all.

Created by seven-time Fringe First winner Chris Thorpe and Claire O’Reilly (Abbey Theatre) and developed with Tony Award-winning Rachel Chavkin, Talking About The Fire premiered at The Royal Court Theatre in December 2023.

★★★★★ ‘It’s all masterfully put together… this show culminates in an encounter that really puts the ‘alive’ into ‘live theatre’. – Time Out

★★★★★ “It’s precisely the feeling of community and comfort in the room that makes the horror of what Thorpe is describing so powerful.” – Broadway World

★★★★ “Informative and deeply affecting… Thorpe is an assured and tremendously engaging performer.” – The Stage

★★★★ ‘Chris Thorpe does what he does with a performative skill that is off-the-charts brilliant. It is an extraordinary evening of theatre.’ – Theatre Reviews Hub

If you require further support after seeing the show, we have a post show care pack available to download here.

Supported by Battersea Arts Centre, The Albany and Véronique Christory and using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

For more information, please contact Susan Wareham.

Photo © Simon Edwards

More Information

4th December 2025 at Geneva Graduate Institute, Maison de la paix
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Alongside touring the show, Chris Thorpe has been invited to perform Talking About The Fire, at the following international disarmament-focused events. If you are interested in hosting the show as part of your own event in the future, please contact our Producer Susan Wareham on [email protected]

UPCOMING

December 2025 | Chris has been invited by the International Law Department at the Geneva Graduate Institute to perform the show on Thursday 4th December. This performance is hosted by the Geneva Graduate Institute in association with International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and funded by Lex International.

“This play could not be more timely. The risk of nuclear weapons is higher than at any point in the past decades, with nuclear powers threatening their use and announcing their intention to resume nuclear testing. “Talking About The Fire” invites us to address this risk head-on, and we hope that it will start many new conversations about nuclear weapons and possible paths towards their abolition.” – Nico Krisch, Professor of International Law, Head of the Department of International Law, Geneva Graduate Institute.

March 2025 | Samfunnspolitisk fagkonferanse 2025 – the socio-political conference hosted by Norwegian Peoples Aid’s Central Social Policy Committee. This year’s conference had a focus on nuclear disarmament.

December 2024 | As part of the Oslo Peace Days in Norway. Every December, with the awarding of The Nobel Peace Prize as a backdrop, the Oslo Peace Days gather people to discuss and learn about topics related to peace, freedom, democracy and human rights. The Nobel Peace Prize 2024 was awarded on 10th December to Nihon Hidankyo – a Japanese organisation comprised of survivors of the atomic bomb blasts over Hiroshima and Nagasaki; for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again. Co-hosted by the Nobel Peace Center and Norwegian People’s Aid, Chris performed the show at the Klingenberg Kino, to celebrate the 2024 winner.

October 2024 | Invited by Princeton University Program on Science and Global Security (SGS) in New Jersey, as part of the 50th anniversary events for the Princeton Program on Science and Global Security. Throughout its history, SGS has worked on nuclear arms control, non-proliferation, and disarmament to reduce the dangers from nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Chris had the opportunity to present to the next generation of scientists and engineers from around the world to engage with technical perspectives on understanding, reducing, and ending the threat from nuclear weapons.

September 2024 | Invited by The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF) in Santa Barbara. Over the last 5 years, Chris has been working with Véronique Christory – Senior Arms Advisor for the International Committee of the Red Cross, Delegation to the United Nations – who was honoured by the NAPF, as co-recipient of the Women Waging Peace Award (WWPA); alongside Ambassador Elayne Whyte; for their work towards a world free of nuclear weapons – coinciding with the International Day for Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Chris attended the WWPA events to speak with experts in the field, about his approach to inviting theatre audiences to have a conversation about nuclear threat and regain agency on this urgent issue.

Alongside the 2025 Spring tour performances of Talking About The Fire, we provided a suite of digital resources to encourage young people aged 14-25 to engage with the show within and outside of educational contexts. These have been designed to:

further young people’s understanding of the ongoing threat of nuclear weapons
enable young people to take action around this and other issues they care about.
demystify pathways into careers within theatre and international diplomacy.

These can be used alongside seeing the show but can also be used in isolation to support and aid discussions with young people that are studying or interested in activism and creative careers.

Visit our blog post about these resources and how to use them: https://bit.ly/TATFResources or follow the links below to access each one:

An Interview with Chris Thorpe

Meet the Experts: Post Show Panel Discussion

How to Plan An Activist Event Guide

So, What Can I Do Now? Resources Postcard

The Nobel Peace Prize Digital Lesson

If you require further support after seeing the show, we have a post show care pack available to download here.

Talking About The Fire is a one-person show, inspired by the sister theatre show A Family Business, which draws on several years’ research with senior arms-control advisors, United Nation (UN) diplomats and activists working to develop the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), as well as officials representing nuclear weapons states.

Both shows examine the TPNW, and tell the story of its groundbreaking attempt to shift the power centres of diplomacy around one of the most urgent threats to human civilisation, by putting decision-making into the hands of a coalition of Non-government organisations (NGO’s), civil society pressure groups, and crucially, countries, mostly representing the Global South, who are normally sidelined or ignored in the ‘normal’ power-structures of international policy making.

As well as scenes based on deep research, and information about nuclear threat, Talking About The Fire contains a huge element of conversation with the audience – it is about bringing what is usually regarded as a remote world, inaccessible and dominated by experts, alive in the theatre, and giving the audience pathways to regaining their agency on the urgent issue of nuclear proliferation.

The show undertook two weeks of R&D at Battersea Arts Centre in May 2023 and two weeks of R&D at the Albany, Deptford in October 2023; culminating in a world premiere limited run at The Royal Court Theatre in December 2023. The show played in the Midlands for the Departure Lounge Festival at Derby Theatre in July 2024 and internationally throughout, September, October and December 2024, and will tour the UK and internationally in Spring 2025.

For more information, please contact Susan Wareham on [email protected]