Ditch | Old Vic Tunnels, London, May-June 2010
Beth Steel’s debut play, a dystopian thriller set in a Britain submerged by climate crisis. Following its premiere at the HighTide Festival, the production transferred to the Old Vic Tunnels for a six-week run directed by Richard Twyman. The play examines how people behave when civilization’s conveniences disappear—a frightening vision of a future that could easily be ours.
takis’ design utilized the unique atmospheric qualities of the Old Vic Tunnels, the Victorian railway arches beneath Waterloo Station. The venue itself enhanced the production’s themes of infrastructure collapse and societal breakdown. Audiences experienced a promenade-style entrance, walking ten minutes through the tunnels and encountering elements of the story before taking their seats—the design blurred boundaries between the fictional drowned Britain and the very real subterranean space.
The production was shortlisted for the John Whiting Award and established Beth Steel as a major new voice in British playwriting. Her clear-eyed examination of environmental catastrophe and social collapse proved prescient, with the play’s themes of rising seas and uncontrolled consumption remaining urgently relevant.
Creative Team: Playwright: Beth Steel | Director: Richard Twyman | Designer: takis | Lighting: Matt Prentice | Sound: Christopher Shutt