ABOUT THE SHOW

The Mould that Changed the World is an internationally-touring sell-out musical about antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

It tells the story of Alexander Fleming’s famous discovery of penicillin in 1928, charting the rise and fall of antibiotics. We travel into the reality of life without these precious drugs, and the approaching era of superbugs and death from common infections that we can no longer treat, using theatre to engage the general public in this urgent global health threat.

The musical sold out runs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018 and 2022, and showing at Webster’s Theatre in Glasgow and the Ovalhouse in London, before touring the East coast of the USA in late 2022. It has also been showcased in Barbados for the Prime Minister Mia Mottley at the high-level AMR leaders group meeting in 2023, as well as at the Houses of Parliament for MPs in collaboration with WaterAid and the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy in support of the publication of a paper on the need for clean water in lower and middle income countries to prevent the spread of AMR.

Uniquely, the musical combines a touring professional West End cast of actors with a chorus of scientists and healthcare professionals local to each city we perform in. This allows us not only to connect with local people and communities but also to give voice to and perform alongside people who understand the issue of AMR and work with it in their everyday lives. To hear some of their stories, visit Chorus Insights.

The musical also has a Schools Version which can be performed by 9-11 year olds with the help of an online video resource, teaching children how to perform the songs and scenes from the musical. For more information, visit Resources.

WHAT IS AMR?

Five million people a year die from illness linked to antibiotic resistance. It just might be the biggest threat to humanity you have never heard of.

Antibiotics are drugs used to treat infections caused by bacteria and only bacteria. In the past eighty years they have saved millions of lives. Antibiotic resistance, a type of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), is a natural process allowing bacteria to evolve defenses that renders our drugs less effective. If we used antibiotics sensibly, only when we really needed them, we might have enough time to halt the spread of resistance through the population and develop new drugs to fight infection.

Unfortunately, we overuse antibiotics to treat infections that might improve by themselves, that are caused by viruses, and we even use them to fatten animals raised in the meat industry. This overuse has led to the creation of superbugs, bacteria that are resistant to most or all of the antibiotics we throw at them. These resistant bacteria are now linked to about 5 million deaths globally every year. Without urgent action, this number is only going to rise.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

AMR can affect anyone. But that means everyone has the power to help solve the problem. Take a SEAT and I will tell you how:

Sanitation

Stopping the spread of infection by improving sanitation where possible will stop the need to antibiotics in the first place.

Education

Educating the public about the problem is one of the most effective ways to protect against superbugs. You can find our resources here.

Advice

Take the advice of your healthcare provider and never demand antibiotics from them!

Talk

Don’t just take in the information you learn and keep it to yourself – share your story! Storytelling is what the theatre business does best and is the reason we can play a huge role in spreading the word about AMR. So will you help us?

Want to know more about AMR? Check out our resources for your community…

RESOURCES