Ariadne Sgouros, Harriet Gordon Anderson, Charles Wu, Brandon McClelland and Abbie-lee Lewis. Photo: Brett Boardman
Billed as ‘immersive and thought-provoking’, this production is a series of vignettes – some 50 short scenes in all – that details attitudes to, consequences of and the potential horror climate change could unleash both now and in the relatively near future. The action jumps forward and back to scenarios between the present and 2038.
Plastic bags are no worse than paper bags, says someone at the beginning of the discourse. Why? Because of the damage done to forests in order to produce the paper. It’s an argument that isn’t advanced. Another time, another place and a group of friends reminisces about the last time they took a flight, before all that came to an end. Can you bring a child into this world, asks another. Moving into the future once more, we see families looking for water, a new life and hope in a world burning like a furnace.
Nick Schlieper’s set and lighting design, together with David Bergman’s sound composition, invoke the stark realities that playwright David Finnigan, who is an expert on climate change, has conjured.
‘Denial. Solutions. Despair. Hope’ is a motto that runs through the various dialogues, but the overall feeling is apocalyptic. Director Carissa Licciardello says it is ‘an unflinching portrayal of a world in crisis, but also a celebration of the resilience of humanity and our ability to come together and confront challenges’.
Let’s hope she’s right. The messages are clear, but I’m not sure Scenes from the Climate Era will convince any climate-change deniers.
Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir St until 25 June.
Tickets: $37-$88
https://belvoir.com.au/productions/scenes-from-the-climate-era/or (02) 9699 3444.
