Scenes from the Climate Era

If you think you are going to harangued about climate change in a theatre piece entitled Scenes from the Climate Era, you would be quite mistaken.

In this work by David Finnigan, you will be surprised, enlightened, even amazed, as well as amused, and you will even laugh out loud.

Belvoir Artistic Director Eamon Flack said of this work: “We read this and simply had to do it. We haven’t had a script that’s generated as much energy as this one. David [Finnigan] is a climate expert as well as a playwright, and the sheer dramatic impact of his expertise is thrilling, frightening, invigorating. It’s not a play that wags its finger, it’s terrifically smart and human. If you’re looking for something about the big issues of this era, here’s a piece of theatre for you.”

The set-up is deceptively simple, just five chairs for five actors and a table, the actors variously taking turns in different combinations while sitting at the table or standing nearby.

In fifty scenes, or conversations, that range across time and space, the actors (Harriet Gordon-Anderson, Abbie-Lee Lewis, Brandon McClelland, Ariadne Sgouros and Charles Wu) take us through a wide range of local, national and international scenarios, from what to do about gas-guzzling cars to the question of whether to bring more children into the world, given that the carbon footprint of both is large.

Should we use paper bags instead of plastic, and what about the trees that are cut down to make those paper bags?

How do we mourn the passing of species, the last one in the line, the “endling”.

Do we support the environmentalists against the poor land-holders in Borneo?

There are a dizzying number of questions and crises raised in this thought-provoking work, which director Carissa Licciardello moves along at a cracking pace.

I guarantee you’ll leave the theatre feeling galvanised.

Until June 25

Belvoir St Theatre, 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills

belvoir.com.au