This 90 minute theatre collage has over 50 short scenes presented by five actors expertly switching characters in each fragment. We are in the 1970s, then 2040s, then 2023 – back and forth in time zones as the actors explore the causes and the effects of climate change. The overall impression is that humankind is in its hospice phase. The end is nigh.
Yet, there are some very amusing pieces in this collage. In the funniest, five activists try to conjure up a climate anthem that would inspire the world to do something about the crisis. This scene provides needed respite from the sometimes overly earnest scenes. In one, set in the future, a pilot describes the geo-engineering of broadly spraying sulfur dioxide to produce a screen to reflect sunlight to reduce the temperature on earth. The pilot then dashes off to party at a disco, believing she has resolved the problem but ignoring that she has created another larger problem.
And so it goes, one short scene after another in different time zones and different locations: Borneo landowners confront environmental scientists, a scientist is coached in how to present to the media without scaring the public, a distressed family in Penrith in the 2040s with the temperature in the high 50s, an activist who lets down the tires of SUVs, and a young couple discussing whether they should have a child. They wonder how much another person on the planet would contribute to climate destruction.
SCENES FROM THE CLIMATE ERAis written by David Finnigan and directed by Carissa Licciardello. The set is appropriately minimalist. The acting is excellent: Harriet Gordon-Anderson, Abbie-Lee Lewis, Brandon McClelland, Charlies Wu and Ariadne Sgouros. There is no character development, no classic emotional arch and no conclusion – yet it is still theatre.
Sadly, the event leaves the audience with the impression that we really are in the hospice stage of humanity and there’s nothing we can do about it.
SCENES FROM THE CLIMATE AREA is playing upstairs at Belvoir Street Theatre until 25th June 2023.
Production photography by Ben Boardman
https://belvoir.com.au/productions/scenes-from-the-climate-era/
