Theatre Arts Theses and Dissertations

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Traversing the Rift: Cultivating Climate Change Literacy Through Theatrical Performance
(University of Oregon, 2019-04-30) Borowicz, Lydia; May, Theresa
Climate change is a persistent and growing threat to the well-being of both humans and nonhuman species, and little action has been taken to halt it. It is imperative the public gains a sufficient level of climate change literacy to be able to take action to mitigate climate change. Theatrical performance offers audiences diverse ways to engage with climate change through both improving scientific understanding and connecting with climate change’s effects through live, embodied performance. Employing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s tenets of climate literacy, I examine how climate change plays (specifically Steve Waters’ The Contingency Plan, Chantal Bilodeau’s Sila, Duncan Macmillan and Chris Rapley’s 2071, and E.M. Lewis’s Magellanica) can cultivate improved climate change literacy in audiences. Halting climate change will require not just climate science knowledge but a shift in values toward an ecologically sustainable future, and theatre offers vital space and tools for reimagining that future.