The environmentally-conscious play making its way to York in first of its kind tour

And as for the energy that powers its production, well that will be generated by volunteer cyclists, who will be using pedal power to keep the lights switched on.

"This is the first show to tour in this way,” says Mingyu Lin, director of the York leg of the play, and resident artist at York Theatre Royal.

“It’s the first to take sustainability in the ethos of the production to such a scale."

A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction was written by New York-based playwright and screenwriter Miranda Rose Hall.

It centres on a character named Naomi, who is part of a theatre company which has created a play for people living through extinction.

But when the actors don’t show up, Naomi has to come up with a plan and shares with the audience her learning about the climate emergency and environmentalism.

Leeds-based actor Stephanie Hutchinson is playing the part for the play’s York run.

“I really like the concept of it, how it’s both ecological in content and in the production,” Stephanie says. “It’s made me think and become really aware of the world around us.”

The play’s tour has been overseen by production company Headlong, who partnered with the Barbican, London for its first leg.

There, the director was internationally renowned artist Katie Mitchell, who has made six pieces about climate change.

She has drawn on work from a sustainable theatre project with the production and tour, which she originally conceived with the support of the French choreographer Jérôme Bel and Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne.

The three joined forces to imagine a theatre experiment of international scope that would be ecological both in its content and in its production process.

Since dates at the Barbican earlier this year, the blueprint of the show has visited different cities, being brought to life over and again by a different team of theatre makers in each venue.

The innovative model therefore sees the play tour, but not the people, the idea being to reimagine theatre in a more climate-conscious way.

Mingyu says: “Touring is very inherently not sustainable so we have thought about how can we tour in a way that keeps the ethos of the play.

"There’s no point getting people to cycle on stage to make the power for the play and then spending lots of power sending people and set on the train...

"When you think of how much cycling has to be done to play one sound cube, it really makes you rethink how much energy you use everyday. And in our industry, how can we do things more sustainably?”

York is the last stop on the play’s tour.

"We need tours otherwise theatre is too London-centric,” Ming says, “but at the very least, I hope this helps companies think about how they can tour more sustainably.”

The show is described as part ritual and part battle cry, “a moving exploration of what it means to be human in an era of man-made extinction” and aims to take the audience on a “life-changing” journey.

“The play is about making people think,” Steph says. "We are going through an extinction a lot quicker than other extinctions in the past and that’s quite scary.

"I know we can’t do everything in one play but I hope it gets people thinking.”

Ming agrees. “It’s such a big concept…it’s hard for us to understand what’s happening especially as we might not see it happen in our lifetime, it might be the next one.

"If we keep talking about it and raising awareness, hopefully people go away and talk more about it and reconsider the energy they use.

"The play is quite life-affirming, full of hope and I think watching it reinvigorates and inspires you.”

A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction is at York Theatre Royal from September 27 to 30. For tickets, call the box office on 01904 623568 or visit yorktheatreroyal.co.uk