Seeds of Hope R&D
Seeds of Hope is an exploration into the life and work of Nikolai Vavilov (1887 - 1943) - a plant geneticist whose life's goal it was to end world famine. He created the first seed bank at his institute in Leningrad, Russia out of samples that he collected from across the world. During World War II he fell out of favour with Stalin and starved to death in a Soviet prison. Vavilov's story and the issues that his story raise remain underrepresented in the public domain but the issues of food security and biodiversity have never been more relevant - although obesity is a major problem in the developed world, malnutrition remains a threat for millions of others and climate change will make their food security even more fragile.
R&D Phase One: March 2019 @ Pleasance, Islington
R&D Phase Two: January 2020 @ Camden People's Theatre, Birmingham Repertory Theatre & Clapham Omnibus.
Directed by Nicholas Pitt
Text by Nick Walker
Design by Lulu Tam
Music & Sound Design by Jon Ouin
Movement by Dan Canham and Lucy Cullingford
Seeds of Hope was adapted into Seeds the podcast after COVID-19 pressed the pause button on live performance.
