The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF), Players Circle Theater and Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) faculty, students and alumni will collaborate again on a global festival of short plays about envisioning a world beyond the climate crisis, with two productions in December.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Time is Now\u201d is this year\u2019s theme for Climate Change Theatre Action, which marks its 10th anniversary after launching in 2015 as a global festival of short plays by playwrights worldwide \u2014 all focusing on the overarching theme of climate change.<\/p>\n
Produced by Players Circle co-founder and Producing Director Carrie Lund Cacioppo, a selection of plays will be staged at the SCCF\u2019s Bailey Homestead on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. on Sanibel and at the Players Circle Theater on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. in Fort Myers.<\/p>\n
The audience will be invited to take part in a community conversation and interactive elements about climate change with ideas for taking action, led by members of the cast and SCCF staff.<\/p>\n
In 2023, SCCF Adult Education Director Jenny Evans reached out to Cacioppo about partnering on performances in Southwest Florida. FGCU Associate Professor of Theater Kristin Mellian, who performed in and directed one of the plays in 2023, joins the collaborative effort once again as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cLive theater creates a connection to climate change that traditional education alone often does not achieve,\u201d Evans said. \u201cThe emotional impact audiences experience through powerful performances resonates deeply, staying with them long after the curtain falls and motivating them to take meaningful action for their communities and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Climate Change Theatre Action plays are presented every other year to coincide with the United Nations\u2019 Climate Change Conference, which is taking place now through December. Fifty professional playwrights, representing all inhabited continents, as well as several cultures and Indigenous nations, are commissioned to write the collection of plays.<\/p>\n
Cacioppo is excited to add teens to the troupe of actors who will perform this year\u2019s plays.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was recently listening to an interview with Jane Goodall at age 88, and she said something that stayed with me: every one of us makes a difference in the world. Her impact on how we think about nature demonstrates what we as individuals can do, using the best we have to do it,\u201d she said. \u201cThat spirit is at the heart of this partnership and Climate Change Theatre Action performances by theatres and institutions internationally \u2014 opening minds, sparking conversation and ultimately making a meaningful impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
The festival will feature 10 new plays written under the theme and 40 of the greatest hits from the last decade. FGCU students will also be cast in the selection of eight of the plays \u2014 ones that invoke humor and poignant realities.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouthwest Florida is a region of stunning natural beauty \u2014 and rising environmental vulnerability,\u201d Mellian said. \u201cMy contributions to this event serve as small acts of love and alarm for the places we call home. Theatre can be abstract, but climate change isn\u2019t \u2014 it\u2019s knocking at our front doors.\u201d<\/p>\n
The SCCF noted that the local production is one of many being performed globally, from Manitoba to Turkey, and it is the only one currently planned for Florida.<\/p>\n
Tickets are $10.<\/p>\n
To order tickets for the Sanibel event, visit https:\/\/events.humanitix.com\/climate-change-theatre-action-the-time-is-now<\/a>. To order tickets for the Fort Myers event, contact the theater at 239-800-3292.<\/p>\n