Climate Change Theatre Action
More than 40 PLAYWRIGHTS, 20 COUNTRIES,
AND OVER 90 EVENTS
Kick Off Event at the Nuyorican Poets Café on November 2, 2015.
New York, NY – Neil LaBute, Arthur Kopit, Bryony Lavery, Deborah Laufer, Ryan McCurdy of Broadway’s ONCE, and Heather Woodbury join CLIMATE CHANGE THEATRE ACTION
– a series of worldwide readings and performances intended to bring awareness to, and foster discussion around, climate change during the months of November and December 2015. A joint venture between NoPassport, The Arctic Cycle and Theatre Without Borders, this action is in support of the United Nations 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) taking place November 30-December 11, 2015.
The main goal of the project is to invite as many people as possible, who may not otherwise pay attention to this history-in-the-making event, to participate in a global conversation. Modeled on previous NoPassport theatre actions focused on gun control (http://nopassport.org/gun-control-theatre-action-2013) and the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill (http://nopassport.org/wayofwater), CCTA draws on the expertise and resources of local artists, while being global in scope and uniting multiple countries and culture around a common issue. As Elaine Avila, one of the co-organizers, notes, “Coming together to tell stories is one of the best ways we have to organize and educate ourselves, to feel and to understand.”
A collection of 1-5 minute plays, poems and songs by 50 writers from all six livable continents, curated by Caridad Svich (playwright, 2012 OBIE for Lifetime Achievement & NoPassport), Chantal Bilodeau (playwright, recipient Woodward International Playwriting Prize & The Arctic Cycle) and Elaine Avila (playwright, recipient Disquiet International Literary Program Playwriting Award & Theatre Without Borders), has been made available to collaborators worldwide. To date, over 70 collaborators have committed to hosting events, ranging from readings in classrooms to day-long festivals, from films and radio programs to site-specific performances by glaciers.
GUIDELINES RE THE PLAYS: All plays are available, with authors' permissions, only during the dates of the Climate Change Theatre Action (Nov 1-Dec 14, 2015). Please contact CCTA curators at fragileshore@gmail.com for any questions regarding script in hand readings or digital actions regarding the plays.
“This artivist action on climate change is an opportunity to reflect, with multiple communities, on of the most vital issues on the planet, continuing our mission toward a theatre that can illuminate the relationship between humans and nature,” says Caridad Svich.
A Kick Off event, produced by the organizers and directed by Emily Mendelsohn will be held on November 2, 2015 from 6:30-8:00 PM at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City. Says Daniel Gallant, Executive Director of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe: “This groundbreaking event echoes the Nuyorican Poets Cafe’s longstanding focus on socially impactful artistry by fusing environmental dialogue, theater and activism.” Tickets are available at www.nuyorican.org (or via the shortcut http://tinyurl.com/NuyoClimate).
All CLIMATE CHANGE THEATRE ACTION events will be registered with ArtCOP21 – Cultural Programme for Paris Climate 2015 (http://www.artcop21.com/). When technically possible, events will be livestreamed on HowlRound TV (http://howlround.com/tv), making them accessible to all CCTA participants and global audiences.
Articles:
Broadway World article here: http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Climate-Change-Theatre-Action-to-Hold-Kick-Off-Event-at-Nuyorican-Poets-Cafe-112-20150929
Howlround article from Climate Change Theatre Action Series here: http://howlround.com/archipelagos-fragile-shores-and-orphan-seas-a-reflection-on-climate-change-and-performance
Website, FB, Twitter and more:
Website: http://nopassport.org/climate-change-theatre-action
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/climatechangetheatreaction?ref=hl
#ClimateChangeTheatreAction
Youtube Channel: @fragileshore
Previous NoPassport reading schemes and theatre actions since 2012: THE WAY OF WATER marked the 2nd anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill disaster; SPARK, honoring US war vets and esp. female war veterans, GUN CONTROL THEATRE ACTION and the publication of 24 Gun Control Plays, 30/30 National Latin@ Reading Festival, and UPON THE FRAGILE SHOREe global theatre and digital film reading scheme for human and environmental rights, which also launched our YouTube channel fragileshore.
Deborah Asiimwe (Uganda), Reneltta Arluk (Canada/Inuvialuit-Dene), Elaine Avila (Canada/US), Catherine Banks (Canada), Chantal Bilodeau (US/Canada), Lenora Champagne (US), Jody Christopherson (US), Darrah Cloud (US), Mindi Dickstein (US), Erik Ehn (US), Angie Emurwon (Uganda), Kendra Fanconi (Canada), Laura Ferraris (Argentina), Daniel Gallant (US), David Geary (Canada/New Zealand/Māori), Dipika Guha (US/India), Jordan Hall (Canada), Amina Henry (US/Jamaica), Naomi Iizuka (US), Amahl Khouri (Jordan), Arthur Kopit (US), Koffi Kwahulé (France/Côte d’Ivoire), Neil LaBute (US), Deb Laufer (US), Bryony Lavery (England), Jacqueline E. Lawton (US), Andrea Lepcio (US), E.M. Lewis (US), Kevin Loring (Canada/Nlaka’pamux), Abhishek Majumdar (India), Karen Malpede (US), Ruth Margraff (US), Olivier Mayer (US), Winter Miller (US), Chiori Miyagawa (US), Colleen Murphy (Canada), Verónica Musalem (Mexico), Giovanni Ortega (US/Philippines), Sitawa Namwalie (Kenya), Silvia Peláez (Mexico), Jeremy Pickard (US), Elyne Quan (Canada), Lynn Rosen (US), Lisa Schlesinger (US), August Schulenburg (US), Stephen Sewell (Australia), Saviana Stanescu (US/Romania), Caridad Svich (US), Elspeth Tilley (New Zealand), Heather Woodbury (US)
PARTICIPATING VENUES (to date)
Climate Change Theatre Action Collaborating Venues, Presenters and More:
Community Center: Centered Holistic Community Center (Lexington, KY)
Eco-Centers: ONCA Center for Arts and Ecology (Brighton, UK), SMART Eco-Park (Panvel, Maharashtra, India)
Individuals: Vicky Album (London, UK), Michael Johnson-Chase & Simón Hanukai (Paris, France), Jenny Christian (Lexington, KY), Susan Day (Vancouver, Canada), Elizabeth Doud (Miami, FL), Sue Kessler (Chicago, IL), Bella Macdiarmid (Brisbane, Australia), Evelyn O'Malley (Exeter, UK), Jack Paterson (UK), Bronwyn Preece (Portland, OR), Bertille Presta (Paris, France), Suzanne Richard (Washington, DC), Matthew Schneider Mayerson (Singapore), Matthew Sekellick (Buffalo, NY), Tewodros Tessema (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Travis Weekes (Saint Lucia, Caribbean), Clare Whisler (UK), Linda Williams (Hawaii), Douglas Williamson (Costa Rica), Kathleen Worley (Portland, OR)
Radio: KUNM's Radio Theatre (Albuquerque, NM)
Schools: C.W. Baker High School (Baldwinsville, NY), California Language School (Valencia, Spain). Haque Centre of Acting & Creativity (Singapore), Kwantlen Park Secondary School (Surrey, Canada)
Theatres & Cultural Institutions: 516 Arts/Tricklock Theatre (Albuquerque, NM), Artichoke Dance Company (Brooklyn, NY), Artists Repertory Theatre & Boom Arts (Portland, OR), Arts House (Melbourne, Australia), Box Collective (Brooklyn, NY), BuSSy Project (Cairo, Egypt), Casa de Marioneta (Sintra, Portugal), Creative South Africa (multiple locations in South Africa), Drama Dogs (Santa Barbara, CA), Factory Theatre (Toronto, Canada), House Theatre (Brighton, UK), Hudson River Playback Theatre (New Paltz, NY), In altre parole (Rome, Italy), John Frey Studio (Lisbon, Portugal), Kickwheel (Pittsfield, MA), La Fuente (Santiago, Chile), Laboratório de ecopoeticas (Sao Joao del Rei, Brazil), Maria Zimbro Centre (Belmonte, Portugal), Mirateca Arts (Pico, Azores, Portugal), Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company (San Diego, CA), Moxie Productions (Burlington and Waterbury, VT), Multistages (New York, NY), New Georges (New York, NY), NIDA (Brisbane, Australia), Nuyorican Poets Café (New York, NY), Oregon Shakespeare Festival, OR, Pat the Dog Playwrights Centre (four locations in Ontario, Canada), Perseverance Theatre (Juneau, AK), Playwrights Theatre Centre & The Only Animal (Vancouver, Canada), Rogue Machine Theatre (Los Angeles, CA), Skaraventer Project (Armenia), SNAFU Dance Theatre and Puente Theatre (Victoria, Canada), Stony Brook University (Stony Brook, NY), The Peoplehood (Los Angeles, CA), Teatro Caralimipia (Panamá), Theatre Simple (Seattle, WA), Traverse Theatre (Edinburgh, Scotland), Tropa Nomade (Santiago, Chile), Vhitori Entertainment (Harare, Zimbabwe), Vihaan Drama Works (Bhopal, India), Vortex Theatre (Albuquerque, NM)
Universities: Arizona State University, Boston Conservatory, Brandeis University, California Institute for the Arts, California Institute of Technology, California State University, Carnegie Mellon University, Dickinson College, John Jay College, Ithaca College, Kansas State University, Massey University (New Zealand), Manchester University (UK), Middlebury College, Middlesex University (UK), National Academy of the Performing Arts Theater Company (Pakistan), New York University, New York University Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), North Carolina State University, Ohio University, Pomona College, Ramapo College, Randolph-Macon College, Santa Clara University, Saint Michael’s College, SUNY Oswego, University of Connecticut, University of Iowa, University of New Hampshire, University of Oregon, University of San Francisco, Vancouver Island University (Canada), Western Washington University, West Virginia University at Parkersburg, York University (Canada)
ABOUT THE PRODUCERS
NoPassport theatre alliance and press was founded by playwright Caridad Svich in 2003 and is committed to the advocacy, promotion, production and publication of creative expressions of aesthetic and cultural diversity and difference in theatre and performance. NoPassport is fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas. (www.nopassport.org).
The Arctic Cycle was founded by playwright Chantal Bilodeau in 2009, and uses artistic engagement and advocacy to communicate the urgency of the global climate crisis and encourage people to take action. (www.thearcticcycle.org)
Theatre Without Borders (TWB) is a grass-roots, informal, and volunteer, virtual community that shares information and builds connections between individuals and institutions interested in international theatre exchange. www.theatrewithoutborders.com
