Climate change poses an existential threat to humanity and theatremakers need to be part of addressing it. Here, you’ll find content about artistic work that engages with the climate crisis, as well as learnings about how to make theatre practices more eco-friendly. Chantal Bilodeau’s long-running Theatre in the Age of Climate Change series is a must-read, and don’t miss Groundwater Arts’s video series on the Green New Theater.
The Latest
Essay
Passing the Baton
by Chantal Bilodeau
7 April 2026
Essay
The Making of Things We Will Miss: Meditations on the Climate Crisis
by Emily K. Harrison
16 March 2026
Essay
Theatre as a Partner in Environmental Sustainability Awareness in Delta State, Nigeria
by Dennis OBIRE, Cornelius Onyekaba , Eseovwe Emakunu
When filmmaker Thomas Chibambo founded the Blantyre Arts Festival in 2009, it was Malawi’s first multi-disciplinary arts festival. He joins host Fumbani Innot Phiri, Jr. to discuss the Blantyre Arts Festival’s current plans to better support theatrical performance and his own work to establish an Arts Council in Malawi.
In this episode, co-hosts Bíborka and Zsófi are joined by visual and performance artist and environmental activist, Éva Bubla; dancer, choreographer, researcher, and founder of the performance research group SVUNG, Kinga Szemessy; and culture manager, event organizer, curator, founder of the PLACCC Festival, and the Hungarian liaison for the IN SITU Network, Fanni Nánay. Drawing from their individual experiences, they discuss the current climate crisis and how different artists engage with this complex issue.
Talia Rodriguez details the generative process for We Are Kin to the Cove, a site-specific, community-engaged performance exploring the historical and contemporary relationships water and humanity at a cove on New York’s East River.
A Focus on the Concept of Solastalgia, Hosted by Reactor in Cluj, Romania
Wednesday 29 June and Thursday 30 June 2022
Cluj, Romania
Reactor presented a conversation on Climate Change Discourse in Performing Arts and a performance of Habituare (Habituation) by Ioana Hogman, livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 29 June and Thursday 30 June at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 4 p.m. UTC +0 / 7 p.m. EEST (Cluj-Napoca, UTC +3).
Redefining Our Art. Transforming Our Practices. Tending to Our People.
Thursday 16 June to Saturday 18 June 2022
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Theatre Communications Group (TCG) presented the 2022 TCG National Conference: Pittsburgh livestreaming on the commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network from Thursday 16 June to Saturday 18 June 2022.
Productions, Readings, Discussions, and Workshops Focusing on Climate Change, Immigration, and Indigeneity
Wednesday 4 May to Saturday 7 May 2022
United States
The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. presented The Gathering, livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Wednesday 4 May to Saturday 7 May 2022.
Theatre artist Elle Thoni shares their experience working on the outdoor theatre production of a futuristic musical, Queen B, and challenges institutional ideas on how and where theatre can take place.
Gabriel Augusto Liparini Queiroz sits down with Adilson Siqueira, Aneliza Rodrigues Prado, and Patrick Veniali da Silva to discuss their work at the Laboratory of Ecopoetics (ECOLAB) at the Federal University of São João del-Rei. They share their research on the concept of the corpo quebrada—literally the “bent body”—which responds to ecological crisis by embodying resilience and flexibility.
Onisajé shares the creative process of Teatro Preto do Candomblé, which trains actors using the rituals and liturgy of Candomblé as a method of actor training. Through immersion in this African diasporic religion, Teatro Preto do Candomblé’s methods center reciprocal relationships with the environment and activate individuals’ connection to their Blackness.
In Martin Domecq’s contribution to the Climate Emergency series, he puts four Brazillian performance art pieces in conversation to draw upon the poetic, political, and civic lessons they offer. These performances—which range from installations to solo and group performances—model possible paradigms that work against ecological crisis.
Bringing together practicing Festival artists with scholars to consider the intersection of puppetry with other disciplines and ideas
Saturday 22 and Saturday 29 January 2022
Chicago, Illinois
The 2022 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival and The School of the Art Institute Chicago presented The Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposiumlivestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network on Saturday 22 January and Saturday 29 January 2022.
Theatre Communications Group (TCG) presented Climate Action in a Global Landscape: A TCG Virtual Summit as part of the 2021-2022 TCG Fall-Winter Convening Season: Crisis and Transformation, livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Thursday 9 December 2021 at 10 a.m. PST (Los Angeles, UTC -8) / 1 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 18:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 19:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +1).
As a part of the New Deal, the Federal Theatre Project of the 1930s funded theatre in the United States at an unprecedented level, providing paid work for trained theatremakers and low-cost performances to audiences all around the country. Corinna Schulenberg and Dr. Elizabeth A. Osborne discuss the history of the Federal Theatre Project and its potential to act as a model for a New Federal Theatre Project formed in conjunction with racial justice, climate justice, and Land Back movements.
How Can Artists Help Illuminate the Parallels Between Society's Treatment of Women and Nature?
Tuesday 23 November 2021
United Kingdom
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival presented ARTISTS/IDEAS/NOW—Patriarchy and the Climate Crisis livestreaming on the commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Tuesday 23 November at 10 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 12 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 1 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 6 p.m. GMT (London, UTC +1) / 19:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +2).
An Annual Convening of Transnational Artists, Thinkers, and Activists Working with Culture to Create a Better World
Friday 19 November 2021
New York City
Building on last year’s theme of resilience and community engagement, ArtsLink Assembly 2021 focused on the artists and arts leaders, the Future Fellows, creating new networks and structures locally and transnationally to support independent artists in a post-pandemic world. Livestreamed on the commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network Friday 19 November 2021.
Looking at the Perspective of the Climate Crisis Through the Eyes of Refugees and People Under Threat of Displacement
Wednesday 13 October 2021
Liverpool, United Kingdom
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival presented ARTISTS/IDEAS/NOW—Our Camp on Fire livestreaming on the commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Wednesday 13 October 2021 at 10 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 6 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 19:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2).
A Conversation About the Climate Crisis and its Impact in the Middle East and North Africa
Wednesday 15 September 2021
Liverpool, United Kingdom
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival presented ARTISTS/IDEAS/NOW—Imagine Democracy livestreaming on the commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 15 September 2021 at 10 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 6 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 19:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2).
This panel presented perspectives that elucidate and redefine environmental justice and how culture, performance, and storytelling impact awareness and social transformation around these issues. Livestreaming on the commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network Wednesday 8 September 2021 at 4:30 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7) / 6:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 7:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -7).
Taylor Leigh Lamb and Sabine Decatur share emails, letters, social media posts, and more from the future that represent the period of profound change in the theatre industry beginning in 2021.
With a Performance of The Water Song by Oogie Push and a Contract Rider Panel on Divestment.
Saturday 14 August 2021
United States
Groundwater Arts presented Get Fossil Fuels Off the Stage! which includes a performance of The Water Song by Oogie Push followed by a contract rider panel on divestment featuring Nikkole Salter, Brandon Michael Nase, and Michael Fran. Livestreamed on the commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Saturday 14 August 2021 at 1 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7) / 3 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 4 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 21:00 BST (London, UTC +1) / 22:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2).
Theatre Communications Group presented their 2021 National Conference: Our Theatre Ecology livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Thursday 13 May to Friday 21 May 2021.
A step toward bringing conversations on climate into theatre’s mainstream
Thursday 22 April 2021
United States
Theater Communications Group presented their inaugural Climate Action and Environmental Justice Summit livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 22 April 2021 at 10 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).
