An Aquadystopian Vision of Anthropogenic Climate Change in Steve Waters’s 'The Contingency Plan'

Steve Waters’s The Contingency Plan (2009) is a pair of climate change plays divided into two: On the Beach and Resilience. In the first part, William Paxton, a glaciologist, returns from Antarctica to his family home in Norfolk, accompanied by his girlfriend Sarika Chatterjee, working for the Ministry for Climate Change. His scientific observations unpack that the high level of ice melting in West Antarctica will cause an alarming sea-level rise on the coasts. His recent investigation affirms his ex-glaciologist father Robin’s research back in the 1970s although the father had to resign after his discovery. While the first play introduces the climate crisis and its upcoming effects in the domestic scene through the conflict between William and Robin, the second play investigates the incapacity to cope with climate disaster as William and Sarika move to the political site, Whitehall. Although William tries to warn politicians to take immediate steps to prevent the loss of lives in the upcoming floods, the reluctance of politicians unveils climate change denial. Undoubtedly, the plays single out anthropogenic influence on climate change, leading to ice melting and sea-level rise. Moreover, human-made activities aggravate the conditions at the moment of environmental crisis. Waters largely rests the pair plays on the conflict between scientists and politicians over the climate change crisis in both father and son’s stories. This study aims to discuss the issues of climate change denial and to problematise the sense of responsibility on the domestic and public scales in the dark vision of the near future in The Contingency Plan. In the pair plays, the false representation of reality and the ignorance of politicians play a significant role in understanding the vulnerability to the apocalyptic flood sweeping through England. In particular, the responses of politicians dwell on the issue of climate change denial in the apocalyptic flood narration. The lack of responsibility for human and non-human lives looms from the beginning of the play to the end. The agency of the sea threatens the lives of many in England, and when the threat is realised and the nation faces the apocalyptic flood, the pair plays deal with an aquadystopian vision of anthropogenic climate change. This paper examines the conditions leading to this dystopian vision by considering Waters’s representation of climate change denial and responsibility in The Contingency Plan.