New theatre production exploring problem plastics to tour Birmingham

The Many Lives Of PET #1, by Stan’s Cafe and commissioned by plastics experts at the University of Birmingham, will explore our relationship to plastics.

PET 1 poster

The Many Lives Of PET #1, a complicated comedy about a plastic bottle, by Stan’s Cafe and commissioned by plastics experts at the University of Birmingham, will explore our relationship to plastics.

A new theatre production, The Many Lives Of PET #1, by acclaimed Birmingham theatre company Stan's Cafe will examine the complex issue of plastic usage. The light-hearted yet thought provoking new production is set to tour community venues in and around the city from 29 March to 12 April 2025.

The theatre production was commissioned by the Birmingham Plastics Network at the University of Birmingham.

With a cast of colourful characters, the tabletop comedy/drama asks us to consider how we use plastic as the hero of the production, PET #1 – previously food packaging, now mechanically recycled into a clear bottle – finds himself discarded, and facing an uncertain future. Is this the end of the line for PET #1? Or could he live on?

This project communicates important messages and knowledge about plastics in a way that is engaging and understandable, and might just help to drive the kind of action needed to address the crisis in a meaningful way.

Dr Christopher Windows-Yule, University of Birmingham

Intended for single use, it's used to make a huge range of products including, significantly, disposable water and drink bottles. Resilient and adaptable, products created using PET are regarded safe for single use, but what we do with them next is one of the big questions posed by The Many Lives of PET #1.

Dr Christopher Windows-Yule, Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering and member of the Birmingham Plastics Network, said: "The plastic waste crisis is one of the great, global challenges facing society today. But it's a massively complex subject, surrounded by all kinds of confusion and misinformation.

“This project communicates important messages and knowledge about plastics in a way that is engaging and understandable, and might just help to drive the kind of action needed to address the crisis in a meaningful way."

James Yarker, co-director, said: "PET #1 and his friends are tragic figures in a way - they’re really useful but no one wants them around, and alternatives aren’t always much better. The solution is a bit of a riddle that we’re all trying to work out.

“Working on the show has made me much more aware of the role of plastic in our world, and in small but significant ways that’s changed my habits - maybe it will do the same for our audiences? But whatever happens, I’m confident they’ll have fun with PET #1.”

The Many Lives of PET #1 opens at the University of Birmingham city centre location, The Exchange, Centenary Square, Birmingham, on 29 March 2025. It then moves to venues in Deritend (31 Mar), Quinton (1 Apr), Stirchley (2 Apr), Northfield (3 Apr), Handsworth (4 Apr), Kings Heath (5 Apr), Erdington (5 Apr), Moseley (7 Apr), Kingstanding (8 Apr), Hockley (9 Apr), Stourbridge (10 Apr), Coventry (11 Apr), and Balsall Heath (12 Apr).

Tickets cost £10 and can be booked at the Stan’s Cafe website.

Notes for editors

Notes to editors

  • For media inquiries please contact Ellie Hail, Communications Officer, University of Birmingham on +44 (0)7966 311 409. Out-of-hours, please call +44 (0) 121 414 2772.

About the University of Birmingham

  • The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.

About the Birmingham Plastics Network

  • The Birmingham Plastics Network is an interdisciplinary network of over 60 researchers at the University of Birmingham, which aims to engage with the plastics waste problem comprehensively, utilising a whole-systems approach and enabling widespread impact which considers economic, environmental, social and ecological impacts.
    For more information, see: www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/centres-institutes/birmingham-plastics-network

About Stan’s Cafe

  • Stan’s Cafe is a theatre company (and charity). We make our work collaboratively, following exciting ideas wherever they take us, sometimes into theatres.
    We love working in schools with students and teachers. Often, we help out other people because we love seeing other people make great art.
    We started in 1991, and we are more excited than ever before.
    Web: stans.cafe
    X / Twitter: x.com/stanscafe
    Facebook: facebook.com/stanscafetheatre/
    Instagram: instagram.com/stans_cafe/
    Hashtag: #PET1

Listings

  • Saturday 29 March 2025, The Exchange, 3 Centenary Square, Birmingham B1 2DR, 1pm & 4pm
  • Monday 31 March 2025, Sector 57,21 Milk Street, Deritend, Birmingham B5 5TR, 7.30pm
  • Tuesday 1 April 2025, Quinborne Community Centre, Ridgacre Road, Quinton, Birmingham B32 2TW, 7pm
  • Wednesday 2 April 2025, Stirchley Baths, Bournville Lane, Stirchley, Birmingham B30 2JT, 7.30pm
  • Thursday 3 April 2025, Northfield Baptist Church, 789 Bristol Road South, Northfield, Birmingham B31 2NQ, 7pm
  • Friday 4 April 2025, Andrews Community Church Hall, 2 College Road, Handsworth, Birmingham B20 2HX, 7.30pm
  • Saturday 5 April 2025, Kings Heath Community Centre, 8 Heathfield Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 7DB, 2pm
  • Saturday 5 April 2025, The Erdington Social Club, 33 Sutton New Road, Birmingham B23 6TD, 7.30pm
  • Monday 7 April 2025, Springfield Project, The Springfield Centre, Springfield Road, Moseley, Birmingham B13 9NY, 7.30pm
  • Tuesday 8 April 2025, Birmingham Settlement Sports and Community Centre, Kingstanding Road, Kingstanding, Birmingham B44 9SH, 6pm
  • Wednesday 9 April 2025, Hockley Social,60 Hampton Street, Hockley, Birmingham B19 3LU, 7.30pm
  • Thursday 10 April 2025, Steam Yard, Unit 2, Station Drive, Lye, Stourbridge DY9 8ER, 7.30pm
  • Friday 11 April 2025, Coventry Boys and Girls Club, 50 Whitefriars Street, Coventry CV1 2DS, 7pm
  • Saturday 12 April 2025, The Old Print Works,498-506 Moseley Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham B12 9AH, 12pm & 4pm

The Many Lives of PET #1

  • The show is inspired by The Sustainable Plastics Policy Commissionreport for the UK Government, published in 2024 [download PDF].
    Credits:
    Devised and Performed by: Aizah Khan, Craig Stephens and Jack Trow
    Directed by: Lori Hopkins and James Yarker
    Text: James Yarker
    Puppets: Ceridwen Brown
    Produced by: Dominic Thompson
    Commissioned by: Birmingham Plastics Network (University of Birmingham)
    With support from: Chemists’ Community Fund (Royal Society Of Chemistry), Lenovo, The Royal Society