The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presents Whole Earth Talk #1: Thomas Oberender livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Monday 10 April 2023 at 9:30 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11:30 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 12:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).
Join us for a Whole Earth Conversation with Thomas Oberender (Germany) about the new role theatre and performance can and should play in the new age of the Anthropocene, a geological era shaped by humans rather than by nature. We ask how the significant symbolic, imaginary, and real space of theatre can help artists and audiences realize that a contemporary theatre and performance practice can no longer just represents interhuman conflicts. How can we raise the necessary and urgent awareness to include a planetary consciousness about animals, plants, viruses, the atmosphere, as well as the “critical zone” thirty feet above and below the surface of the Earth in contemporary theatre and performance?
Thomas Oberender, born in 1966 in Jena, is an author and curator. Since 2011 he has been the artistic and managing director of Berliner Festspiele / Gropiusbau. He was the founder of several new formats for performance, literature, and cultural programs, and created time-based exhibitions. From 2006 to 2011 he was director of drama at the Salzburg Festival. He has written essays, theatre plays, and literature reviews and is currently working as artistic director of the transmedial program Immersion, which also opens planetariums as spaces for artists of the digital age.
Comments
The article is just the start of the conversation—we want to know what you think about this subject, too! HowlRound is a space for knowledge-sharing, and we welcome spirited, thoughtful, and on-topic dialogue. Find our full comments policy here
Another terrific discussion, Frank. Thanks.