Book Review: 100 PLAYS TO SAVE THE WORLD
The new collection of plays will expand the professional knowledge of playwrights as well as spread awareness of theatre’s acknowledgement of - and reaction to - the issue, which is an endeavour of utmost importance
By: Cindy Marcolina Dec. 15, 2021
In the best-case scenario, by the end of the 21st century, the Earth will "only" become warmer by 1.5 degrees Celsius. Realistically, it will be much hotter. Severe heat waves and rising water levels are only two of the main symptoms of this; coral reefs will disappear almost entirely and animal species will go completely extinct. Seas will swallow cities whole. Polar bears will become a fever dream.
Countless films have been - and are being - made about climate change, but what is theatre doing? It turns out, a lot! Off the top of my head I could only perhaps mention a few plays, mostly fringe ones that popped up at festivals around the country, but 100 Plays To Save The World is proof that we haven't been paying enough attention and the response of our industry has been, indeed, loud.
The book is an invaluable anthology that deals with the environmental crisis head-on. From classic playwrights to new writing, Elizabeth Freestone and Jeanie O'Hare give us an international venture by listing pieces either written in English or in translation - showing the true global nature of the problem. Among the names featured we can find Mark Bartlett, April De Angelis, Ibsen, and Lucy Kirkwood.
While some of the titles aren't directly about climate change - we doubt Aristophanes and Brecht were concerned about saving the planet to the extent of writing plays about it - and others are so at a push, it's a compelling compendium. It will expand the professional knowledge of playwrights as well as spread awareness of theatre's acknowledgement of - and reaction to - the issue, which is an endeavour of utmost importance.
Each play is accompanied by an essay to support it and an introduction to each chapter. These divide the tome into 12 parts - that span themes of sorts, from Destruction to Hope - and give a general idea of how the single scripts can be interpreted. The foreword by activist Daze Aghaji sums up the heart of the book; it's a call to action, a collection that gives us hope for a better future and shows that, even on stage across the world, people do care about Earth.
100 Plays To Save The World is published by Nick Hern Books and out now.
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