Austrian Stage Presents WASTE LAND Next Month

Austrian Stage presents a staged reading of Waste Land, a comedic picture of a world where the consequences of climate change and environmental pollution have already become reality.

The reading will feature Orange is the New Black's Daniella De Jesus, Broadway veterans Richard Topol, Keith Randolph Smith, alongside Erin Neufer, Sade Namei and Sophia Ramos.

The performance takes place on December 2 at ACFNY, 11 E52nd Street (between 5th and Madison) for free, but RSVP required at this link.

Jesolo and Adrian are the last humans on Thilafushi, an artificial island where all the waste from the Maldives is dumped. There used to be many of them, sorting through whatever the holiday guests on the neighboring islands left behind. Then the waste grew and grew until there was no more space for the workers. Now there are no more tourists, but the sea level is rising. Soon, the water will have devoured the last islands, and only the highest elevations - the waste mountains - will stand out. Humanity has rendered itself immortal by way of millions of tons of plastic. When everything else is submerged, plastic waste will still survive the change. We jump in time: an interactive exhibition in the near future is dedicated to the memory of the Maldives. A lot of effort goes into showing how mass tourism came to be, how a paradisiacal lagoon became the region's largest rubbish dump, and how eventually the sea swallowed the entire archipelago. Original artifacts bear witness to those days: a throw-away bottle from the year 2020, crisp bags, a suitcase on wheels, a rubber boat with holes ...It's a last look at what is left of the 21st century - if the destruction of habitats continues unchecked.