THE WILDERNESS

THE CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBAL WARMING

The Wilderness (1993), written and directed by Mark Beeson, placed Dartmoor in an imaginary future where it existed as a desert. It drew inspiration from the threat of Global Warming in particular and the devastating results that it may cause. Although the scenario might have seemed improbable in 1993 (less so more recently), it was inspired by a habit of 19th century writers who liked to describe Dartmoor as a desert. The original meaning of  ‘desert’ was a place where nobody lived, which was deserted. BBC Radio 4 sent down a reporter and a producer from London  to do a preview feature on this play, which was broadcast on their Arts Magazine programme Kaleidoscope.