The Children (NHB Modern Plays)

'Retired people are like nuclear power stations. They like to live by the sea.' Two ageing nuclear scientists in an isolated cottage on the coast, as the world around them crumbles. Then an old friend arrives with a frightening request. Lucy Kirkwood's play The Children premiered at the Royal Court, London, in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs on 17 November 2016, in a production directed by James Macdonald.

Lucy Kirkwood's plays include The Children (Royal Court); Chimerica (Almeida/West End); NSFW (Royal Court); small hours (co-written with Ed Hime; Hampstead); Hansel and Gretel, Beauty and the Beast (with Katie Mitchell; National Theatre); Bloody Wimmin, as part of Women, Power and Politics (Tricycle); it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now (Clean Break/Arcola); Hedda (Gate, London); Tinderbox (Bush). it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now won the 2012 John?Whiting Award, and was nominated for the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award, and the Susan Smith Blackburn Award. Chimerica won the 2014 Olivier Award for Best New Play, the 2013 Evening Standard Best Play Award, the 2014 Critics' Circle Best New Play Award, and the Susan Smith Blackburn Award.