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• A New Play by
  Will J. Wood

Book Tickets

Overview

When young but hardened climate activists hear about the destruction of a local woodland they
are torn. Do they continue protesting oil depots, petrol stations, airports: at the heart of the
industries that are wrecking the planet, or do they go local, fighting for this forest and its
woodland nursery?

Based on true events, A Tree to Save a Forest is a tense, heart-felt play that asks how far we would
go to save what we love. For activist Frankie, the woodland is a distraction from her previous
plan to occupy the main runway at Stansted airport. Yasmin grew up going to the nursery, so
joins this local fight. Luke coordinates activist groups all over the region, but secretly he is an
undercover police officer building up evidence to arrest his friends. It is a play of passion and
sacrifice. Longing for justice, with fast-paced action, humour and monologues rich in self-
reflection, the characters are learning who they are and what they are willing to do.

The play follows the characters through protests: investigations into the police and police
investigations into them. Yasmin learns her activism requires escaping her comfort zone and
risking arrest. Nate finds a sense of belonging in nature that she felt missing from the London
queer community where she found herself. Frankie turns from the dramatic, headline-grabbing protest to respecting and protecting what Yasmin is doing.

When Luke hears that Frankie and Jake are planning an even bigger protest at the UK's nuclear deterrent, he stalls the eviction of the woodland site. Tracking Frankie to the woods outside Glasgow, he finds her at the Faslane Peace Camp. There he learns the action was a ruse, to pull him away and allow Yasmin to start a protest, climbing a tree to save the forest.