By Robin Saidenburg,
USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter Intern
Art has always been used as a way to highlight challenges that societies face, and make a commentary on social issues of the time. Music, pictures, paintings, and theater have the power to make people stop and think. One theater group in particular, That Uppity Theater Company, has done this time and time again.
Theater and climate change might not seem like the most obvious pairing, but Climate Change Theatre Action 2017 brings the two together in a powerful and thought-provoking way. Discourse on climate change is often defined by numbers, percents, and predictions; the story of climate change is rarely a personalized human one. However, CCTA is changing the traditional narrative. CCTA is a worldwide series of readings and performances presented between October 1 and November 18, 2017 to coincide with the United Nations COP 23 meeting. The readings are compiled from fifty different playwrights and intended to highlight the wide array of challenges and threats that climate change brings. From a low lying nation threatened by sea level change to countries facing severe heatwaves, floods or droughts, CCTA attempts to capture a variety of perspectives on climate change.
On Monday, November 6, 7-9:30 pm at the Ethical Society St Louis, That Uppity Theater is partnering with the US Green Building Council-Missouri Gateway Chapter and Missouri Interfaith Power & Light to present “Playhouse Emissions: A Climate Change Theatre Action” as part of the international Climate Change Theatre Action 2017. Read by some of the leading actors in St Louis, the plays will be selected from over 25 cultures, from industrialized and developing countries and urban and rural areas, thus capturing the diversity we see within our own community.
This play presents an opportunity to change the typical conversation on climate change and make it more personal. It will force us to focus on the challenges people have been, and will continue to face within our St. Louis community. These conversations will help us better shape policy and other initiatives to help mitigate the effects of climate change as well as better prepare community members for what the future might hold.
Admission is free, but registration is requested online or at the door. Registration and networking at 7-7:30, program will begin at 7:30, with resource tables following from 8:45-9:30 with numerous groups including Missouri Coalition for the Environment, Earthdance Farms, Central Reform Congregation, Organizing for Action, Midwest Coalition for Responsible Investment, the Sierra Club and more.
Please register online at www.usgbc-mogateway.org