This is the program guide for your tour of our gallery of “Broken Things.” Each of our 9 shows has a webpage with information about each play and questions and actions to consider in response to climate crisis.
“Life is better than death… if only because it is less boring, and because it has fresh peaches … In any case, Earth is my home—though for centuries white people have tried to convince me I have no right to exist, except in the dirtiest, darkest corners of the globe. So let me tell you: I intend to protect my home. Praying—not a curse—only the hope that my courage will not fail my love. But if by some miracle, and all our struggle, the earth is spared, only justice to every living thing (and everything alive) will save humankind. And we are not saved yet.”
“Only Justice Can Stop a Curse” In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose
~Alice Walker, March 16, 1982
From the Director
Why perform a play about Climate Change? Indeed, many might say that the time and effort would be better spent taking action. However, live theatre gathers people together in real time and space to affirm and question our values while we are present together…. This is a unique contribution theatre artists can make to global movements addressing the climate crisis, laying a foundation for collective action. Though some cultural production may actually sever our relationship to the planet by reaffirming toxic conflicts and distorted priorities, ecologically conscious storytelling is perhaps our only hope in creating a global movement that enacts the fragile and interdependent web that sustains our human relationships to each other, other species and the planet.
The pandemic has set off a number of deep realizations as we contemplate the connections between each other, living organisms, and the physical spaces that we inhabit. When the Department of Theatre had to cancel our originally scheduled production season, it made perfect sense to move our work out doors and embrace the beautiful grounds and facilities of Miami University, which have felt haunted and vacant, yearning for its inhabitants. Making site-specific theatre is a humbling experience, one that reminds us that we are not in control. Yes, we may have “imagination and vision,” but it is in service to something much bigger than us, and that vision only takes hold when it is responsive and in dialogue with our community and planet. Whether it snows on Earth Day, or we find ourselves inundated by millions of cicadas, we are part of the rhythmic cycles orchestrated by Mother Nature. And, an important point made by many of these plays, she is also depending on us. Indeed, we are her. As the ocean calls us in our final scene, “Letter from the Ocean,” if we abandon her, we abandon ourselves.
Each of our scenes dramatize a facet of the complex problems of the climate crisis. How are we listening and responding? How can we be conscious of our impact on others and physical resources? What can we learn from those who came before us? Who will be coming after us and how can we light the way? What stories do we need to tell ourselves to sustain a movement that will need to re-orient our very way of being in the world for decades, centuries to come?
I want to thank all of the inhabitants and custodians of our sites who allowed us to create this production, as well as all of the artists and technicians who have taken on the challenge of this production. It was also wonderful to have support from other departments: Music, Art, ETDB, and Media, Journalism, Film. Finding new ways of being together and telling stories has been a joy and an adventure, with many lessons for the future. This blog and our post-show activities have been designed by a wonderful team of dramaturgs to deepen connections to our community and encourage you to take action. You can start by learning how to plant your wrist-band, your ticket to our performance!
About Climate Change Theatre Action
A global participatory project, CCTA uses theatre to bring communities together and encourage them to take local and global action on climate. By providing tools (plays), some guidance on how to produce events, marketing support, and a model that encourages leadership and self-determination, we make it easy for everyone to engage with an art form they may not be familiar with, and we empower them to harness their creative potential and put it in service of the greater good.
CCTA was originally founded by Elaine Ávila, Chantal Bilodeau, Roberta Levitow, and Caridad Svich following a model pioneered by NoPassport Theatre Alliance. It has since evolved into a U.S.-Canada collaboration between The Arctic Cycle and the Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts.
For more about Climate Change:
“Sustainability” at Miami University
“The Science of Climate Change Explained” (New York Times)
How to Plant Your Wrist-band
Go to the link above to learn about your wrist-band, the ticket to the show!