Performance Potential
University of San Jorge
Reducing The Hope Gap: An Examination of Climate Change Theatre Action Plays of 2021 View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Tarah Wright, Bethany Mc Morine
Climate change and its associated problems are not only science-based issues, but uniquely intertwined with human culture. Therefore, addressing climate change through scientific solutions alone is impossible because the ideologies that created the problem in the first place are completely embedded into many of the world’s cultures. Further, while much of the global population is aware of climate change, very few are motivated or moved into action, or feel that they have the power to create change. Many feel paralyzed by the societal systems that seem to prevent change and have begun to lose hope (also known as the “hope gap”. Artists and the wider cultural community have a unique and critical role to play in this change of culture, a reimagining of how to live on the planet, and potentially in offering hope for the future. Rising to the challenge is Climate Change Action Theater (CCTA) which uses theatre to bring communities together and encourage them to take local and global action on climate. The aim of CCTA is to produce stories about climate change in ways that are engaging and empowering to their audiences. This study examines the 50 scripts of plays from the September 2021 season of Climate Change Action Theatre (CCAT). The language and sentiments of the plays will be closely examined to ascertain major themes and reflections of hope related to climate change, with a specific focus on examining the plays for the role they may play in reducing the "hope gap”.
The Potential of Performance Art to Prompt Fresh Engagement with Environmental Issues View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sharon Rudman, Luke Rudman
As the word emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus returns to the looming threat posed by climate change and the continuing destruction of the environment. Despite the wide publicity given to this issue in recent years, human behaviour remains – to a large extent – unchanged. This paper considers the potential of performance art in prompting a fresh engagement with the environmental crisis in terms of the theories of French philosopher, Jacques Ranciere (2011). Ranciere contends that if a political artwork is to be successful, it cannot simply be presented in the form of a coherent explanation but should rather communicate via a ‘double-effect’ comprising both a readable message as well as an aspect which “resists signification,” even causing a “perceptual shock” (Ranciere 2011:63)*. He describes such an event as a disruption of ‘the distribution of the sensible’ – a term referring to the conventional arrangements of materiality in which we live and the normative manner in which these are understood. This theory is discussed in relation to performance artworks by South African performance artist, Luke Rudman whose work has addressed issues ranging from the plastic crisis to air pollution. Luke has worked with a number of environmental organisations, but this presentation will focus on his collaboration with Greenpeace Africa in terms of live protest performances and Instagram takeovers. *Ranciere, J. (2011). The Politics of Aesthetics: The Distribution of the Sensible.
