Why should theatre talk about the climate crisis?
Theatre, unlike other more abstract art forms, does not have the luxury of ignoring the realities of the world. In other art forms there is a separation between the artist and the audience, but in theatre audiences and actors come together to share something which creates a forum for thinking and learning. Done well, it reflects problems in our society, wishes for the future, and important messages back to the people who watch it. When theatre works, it makes people think about the world and feel something, driving its audiences to use this new knowledge and feeling to change themselves and the world.
Theatre also has a responsibility to its audience to not only give them entertainment, but to give them morals that can be taken with them when they leave. Because of this responsibility, it needs to talk about the things which threaten the reality of our world. One of these things is the climate crisis. There are countless statistics that can be called upon when talking about the climate crisis that paint a very terrifying picture. This is one of the reasons that people try to pretend that it doesn’t exist. Terror is paralysing and there is nothing more terrifying than the realities of the climate crisis.
But theatre can’t afford to ignore the climate crisis. If we do, then it gives our audiences the opportunity to ignore it as well. And quite honestly, the Earth does not have the time for all of us to ignore it. If we want our children to live in the same world we grew up in, we have to continue to talk and make theatre about the climate crisis. We also must practise sustainability to show that it can be done without sacrificing the heart of the theatre we make. Because in a world filled with terrifying - and sometimes paralysing - statistics, our stories have the power to make fantastic change.
But we are never going to be able to achieve much if we don’t come together to effect change. Theatre is a great art form to bring people together. But we need more than the support of the artists, we need the support of the most important people in the theatre making process: the audience. Audiences play the most crucial role in the theatre making process. Not simply as a passive observer, but as a member of society that can effect change in their own lives and the lives of others. This could be by planning about how to waste less food, or to use less energy, or to use your bike instead of taking a tube, or to donate money to charities which protect endangered species, or simply to spread the word about the climate crisis to those around you.
And you are not alone, all around London are reminders that practising sustainability is really important. On tube signs there are messages to waste less because it all goes to landfills, every day there are more people riding the tube than cars on the road, and theatre companies all over London now advertise what they are doing to fight against the climate crisis. What does that mean? When you are faced with weekly, maybe even daily reminders of the climate crisis, it becomes increasingly hard to ignore. If you are driving your petrol car to see a play about sustainability, maybe that inconsistency will give you pause. No one can be perfect all the time, but if we can all change our lives a little beyond what is easy, we can effect some real change.
The realities of the climate crisis are grim, but by refusing to ignore it we have more hope of effecting change in the world than before. This is why our sector must double down on its commitment to sustainability and addressing the climate crisis through the stories we tell and the ways we choose to tell them. If we don’t change, and change drastically, then we will certainly lose the world we live in today. And that is the one thing that none of us can afford to lose.
Lauren Silverstein (Metta Intern 2022)