Climate Emergency

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

Geaux and Gather

Essay

Geaux and Gather

by Ayesha Jordan

25 April 2024

The Speculative Ecologies of The Unreliable Bestiary

Essay

The Speculative Ecologies of The Unreliable Bestiary

by Deke Weaver

24 April 2024

Creating Work in Series in the Anthropocene

Essay

Creating Work in Series in the Anthropocene

by Chantal Bilodeau

22 April 2024

Global Ecopoetics: Poetry, Translation, Climate Change, and Public Health

Center for the Humanities

PEN World Voices

black and white outline of a lion's head

Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers

Segal

Center

Video

Global Ecopoetics: Poetry, Translation, Climate Change, and Public Health

Forrest Gander in conversation with Raquel Salas Rivera.

Tuesday 26 May 2020

United States

PEN America, the Center for the Humanities at CUNY Graduate Center, and the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library presented Global Ecopoetics: Poetry, Translation, Climate Change & Public Health livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 26 May 2020 at 10:30 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 12:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 1:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 18:30 BST (London, UTC+1) / 19:30 CEST (Berlin, UTC+2).

school of resistance conversation series graphic.

School of Resistance—Episode One: This Madness Has to Stop

NTGent

Video

School of Resistance—Episode One: This Madness Has to Stop

Opening speech of Wiener Festwochen by Kay Sara. Followed by a debate with Tania Bruguera and Milo Rau, moderated by Lara Staal

Saturday 16 May 2020

Ghent, Belgium

NTGent presented School of Resistance - Episode One: This madness has to stop livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 16 May 2020 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 17:00 BEST (London, UTC+1) / 18:00 CEST (Belgium, UTC+2).

a person controlling a theatre's light rail rope system

Rebuilding a Better Theatre Industry Post-Pandemic

Genevieve

Beller

Essay

Rebuilding a Better Theatre Industry Post-Pandemic

A Punch List

14 May 2020

Genevieve Beller argues that the current forced pause on society provides a rare opportunity for theatres to take stock, inventory priorities, and enact positive and lasting change, and she provides tangible steps to do so.

It Starts with Us

Beth

Osnes

Essay

It Starts with Us

Young Women’s Reflections on Performance Intersecting with Climate

30 April 2020

Beth Osnes shares her experience working on performances with young women at the intersection of feminism and climate change.

Indigenous Theatre and the Climate Crisis

David

Geary

Essay

Indigenous Theatre and the Climate Crisis

Trickster Mix

29 April 2020

Indigenous playwright David Geary takes us on a journey through his ancestral lineage and land, and highlights the role of the trickster.

I Am the Damage We Have Done to the Earth

Hanna

Cormick

Essay

I Am the Damage We Have Done to the Earth

Intersections of the Climate Crisis and Disability

28 April 2020

Performance artist Hanna Cormick talks about how she uses her body as a metaphor for the damage humans do to the earth, and calls for a more sustainable relationship to our bodies and nature.

Theatre for a Climate Crisis in a Globalized World

Thomas

Peterson

Essay

Theatre for a Climate Crisis in a Globalized World

A Model for Local Action

27 April 2020

Thomas Peterson urges theatremakers to focus on creating work about the climate crisis specifically for their local communities, drawing on lessons from the current response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Canceled) Reshape Intensive Zagreb

RESHAPE

Video

(Canceled) Reshape Intensive Zagreb

A meeting of art practitioners actively rethinking and reshaping organisational models for the arts sector in the EuroMed region

Monday 9 March - Wednesday 11 March 2020

Zagreb, Croatia

Event Canceled: RESHAPE presents the Intensive Zagreb meeting livestreaming from Zagreb, Croatia on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Monday 9 March to Wednesday 11 March 2020.

actor holding money against yellow background

A performance of The Hands That Feed You by Annie Danger

The VORTEX

Video

A performance of The Hands That Feed You by Annie Danger

at the VORTEX in Austin, Texas

Thursday 13 February 2020

Austin, Texas

The VORTEX presented the debut of Annie Danger’s new work, The Hands That Feed You, livestreamed on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network on Thursday 13 February 2020 at 9 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-8) / 8 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-7) / 6 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC-5).

Moving Towards a Migratory Dramaturgy

Devika

Ranjan

Essay

Moving Towards a Migratory Dramaturgy

11 February 2020

Devika Ranjan talks about the ways in which migration can influence performance structures, what she has identified as “migratory dramaturgy.”

Performance of GUILT,Y

Video

Performance of GUILT,Y

by BÉZNĂ Theatre in Bucharest, Romania

Wednesday 22 January 2020

Bucharest, Romania

BÉZNĂ Theatre and Centrul de Teatru Educational Replika presented a performance of GUILT,Y livestreaming on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network on Wednesday 22 January 2020 at 9 a.m. PST (Vancouver, UTC-8) / 12 p.m. EST (New York, UTC-5) / 5 p.m. GMT (London, UTC-0) / 18:00 CET (Budapest, UTC+1) / 19:00 EET (Bucharest, UTC+2)

hosts adrienne maree brown and Autumn Brown with moderator Toshi Reagon

How to Survive the End of the World Podcast

ArtsEmerson

Video

How to Survive the End of the World Podcast

at ArtsEmerson in Boston, Massachusetts

Monday 2 December 2019

Boston, Massachusetts

ArtsEmerson presented a live recording of the How to Survive the End of the World Podcast livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 2 December at 3 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC-8) / 5 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC-6) / 6 p.m. EST (Boston, UTC-5).

Meanwhile: Becoming Porous

Essay

Meanwhile: Becoming Porous

Mientras Tanto: Hacia La Porosidad

21 November 2019

Robert Duffley, Una Chaudhuri, Georgina Escobar, Eli Nixon, Adilson Siqueira, and Brontë Velez reflect on the Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics convening that took place in Mexico City in June 2019.

Can You Feel the Water Rise?

Adi

Eshman

Essay

Can You Feel the Water Rise?

17 November 2019

Adi Eshman discusses Exquisite Corpse Company’s immersive play Water, Water, Everywhere..., which took place on New York Harbor’s Governors Island.

hands of two people delicately placing their fingers on a balance with a feeling of solidarity

ArtsLink Assembly 2019: Global Warning—Artists and the Anthropocene

CEC ArtsLink

Video

ArtsLink Assembly 2019: Global Warning—Artists and the Anthropocene

The first full ArtsLink Assembly in New York City organized and produced by CEC ArtsLink.

Wednesday 13 November 2019

New York, New York, USA

CEC ArtsLink launched their first full ArtsLink Assembly in New York City entitled Global Warning—Artists and the Anthropocene livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Wednesday 13 November 2019 at 11 a.m. EST (New York) / 16:00 UTC +0 (London) / 17:00 UTC +1 (Berlin) / 18:00 UTC +2 (Bucharest) / 19:00 UTC +3 (Moscow). Use #ArtsLinkAssembly in social media.

How Object Puppetry Confronts Climate Change

Caroline

Reck

Essay

How Object Puppetry Confronts Climate Change

3 October 2019

Caroline Reck, artistic director of Glass Half Full Theatre in Austin, Texas, talks about how her company uses clown and object theatre to engage people in the battle against climate change.

Apollo Meets the Climate Youth Movement on Indigenous Ground

Theresa

May

Essay

Apollo Meets the Climate Youth Movement on Indigenous Ground

2 October 2019

Playwright and professor Theresa May talks about creating a show about the planet, Sky Woman, and the Youth Climate Movement, and how collaborating with students enhanced the development process.

Holding This Climate in My Body

Evalyn

Parry

Essay

Holding This Climate in My Body

1 October 2019

Evalyn Parry, artistic director of Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times, talks about attending a historic summit that kicked of a two-year initiative called Climate Change: Reimagining the Footprint of Canadian Theatre.

The Factory of the Future

Zoe

Svendsen

Essay

The Factory of the Future

A Collaborative Project for Imagining Otherwise

30 September 2019

Zoë Svendsen discusses working with fellow theatremakers to build and present imagined realities of London and Oslo in post-capitalist and post-fossil-fuel cultures.

Adapting to a New Normal in Jeune Terre

Gab

Reisman

Essay

Adapting to a New Normal in Jeune Terre

29 September 2019

Playwright Gab Reisman discusses writing a play about climate change and moving toward a model of collective accountability and civic action.

Anticolonial Creative Collaboration and the Development of Mirror Butterfly

Essay

Anticolonial Creative Collaboration and the Development of Mirror Butterfly

15 August 2019

Ben Barson and Gizelxanath Rodriguez, part of the Afro Yaqui Music Collective, talk about artivism—what it means, what it can look like—in relation to building a jazz opera with various communities around the world.

The Necessity of a New Green Federal Theatre Project

Karen

Malpede

Essay

The Necessity of a New Green Federal Theatre Project

30 July 2019

Karen Malpede argues that significant theatrical engagement with the climate crisis cannot occur in the United States without governmental intervention, and looks at the Federal Theatre Project as a model.

theater artists in discussion at the gathering

The Gathering from the CrossCurrents Festival

The Lab at Georgetown

Video

The Gathering from the CrossCurrents Festival

The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University

Wednesday 8 May to Saturday 11 May 2019

Washington, DC

As part of the inaugural CrossCurrents festival, The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. presents The Gathering livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Wednesday 8 May to Saturday 11 May 2019.

Harry Newman’s Dry Time

Segal

Center

Video

Harry Newman’s Dry Time

at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center

Monday 29 April 2019

New York City

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center in New York City presented a reading of Harry Newman's Dry Time livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Monday 29 April 2019 at 1:00 p.m. PDT (San Francisco) / 3:00 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 4:00 p.m. EDT (New York).

event flyer for the event entitled Culture of mobility in the time of climate change.

Focal point: Culture of Mobility in the Time of Climate Change

On the Move

Arts and Theatre Institute (CZ)

CAMP, Prague

HowlRound Theatre Commons

Video

Focal point: Culture of Mobility in the Time of Climate Change

A public forum during On the Move's General Assembly in Prague, Czech Republic

Thursday 25 April 2019

Center for Architecture and Urban Planning (CAMP), Prague, Czech Republic

On the Move, Arts and Theatre Institute (CZ), Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CZ) presented Focal point: Culture of Mobility in the Time of Climate Change—a public forum during On the Move's General Assembly in Prague, Czech Republic livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Thursday 25 April 2019 at 10:00 CEST (Prague, UTC +2) / 09:00 BST (London, UTC +1) / 08:00 UTC +0 / 4 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).