Ground UP Productions & Town Hall Theater Present:

Treaty: A Play About How to NOT Blow Up the Planet

Directed by: Kate Middleton 

Written by: Chris Thorpe

 
Friday, March 27 - Sunday, March 29 in the Anderson Studio.

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, The U.S. goes to war with Iran—but that doesn’t make the weapons more dangerous. They’re always dangerous. And one day, deliberately or accidentally, they’ll be used again.

Treaty is a new play from NYC-based theater company Ground UP Productions that tells the true story of how a playwright stumbles into the high-stakes world of nuclear disarmament negotiations. Part political thriller, part documentary, and part conversation with you, the play brings to life the ordinary people working behind the scenes to prevent catastrophe.

Adapted specifically for Middlebury, the scenes are drawn from real conversations with diplomats, activists, and experts involved in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

All performances will be followed by talk-backs led by Seth Shelden and Véronique Christory of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.

A New Collaboration 

Town Hall Theater has long sought a partnership with a New York City theater company to bring professional work in development to Middlebury. This collaboration with Ground UP is the first to realize that goal. Treaty features Broadway and Off-Broadway actors performing a new work by internationally produced playwright Chris Thorpe, and the production is still in active development. This is a rare chance to experience a show on the ground floor, one that could very well find its way to Broadway. We hope this is the beginning of a long partnership with Ground UP Productions.

About Seth Shelden

Seth Shelden is the General Counsel and United Nations Liaison for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which received the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its work to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons. His work focuses on promoting the universalization and furthering the implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). He has a background as a lawyer and law professor, and, separately, he has had an extensive career in music and arts.

About Véronique Christory

Véronique Christory is Senior Arms Advisor, International Committee of the Red Cross, Delegation to the UN, NY. Since 1997, she has been promoting and developing treaties regulating and prohibiting the use of conventional and nuclear weapons. She has participated in all negotiations related to arms issues at the UN over the past three decades, including the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in 2017. The historic importance of the TPNW was underlined by the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

About Ground UP Productions

Ground UP Productions is a 23-year-old nonprofit Off-Broadway theater company based in the West Village of Manhattan. Their mission is to create honest, intimate theatre through new works and character-driven stories, with the hope of inspiring change in our world. They have produced nearly 30 works, and Treaty was discovered and workshopped in their 2024 New Works Festival. Learn more at www.groundupproductions.org.