MU Theatre presents Mother Earth’s Gallery of Broken Things: Miami University Theatre’s Climate Change Theatre Action between April 28 and May 1, 2021. This series of short performances, curated by Mother Earth, calls on humans to heal the planet. Featuring the work of 9 global and local playwrights, this outdoor site-specific performance (performed with social distancing) uses dance, projections, poetry, storytelling, and comedy to create performances that spark the power of imagination and collective action. 

When Miami University Theatre had to reconsider their 2021 spring production season, Dr. Ann Elizabeth Armstrong proposed an outdoor site-specific performance for a socially distant format. With student designers, dramaturgs, directors, and managers, they curated short plays from two edited collections by Chantal Bilodeau; Where is the Hope? An Anthology of Short Climate Change Plays and Lighting the Way: An Anthology of Short Plays About the Climate Crisis.  Bilodeau is the director of Climate Change Theatre Action, a global network of artists integrating activism for the planet. 

The performance includes plays by globally recognized playwrights as well as Miami University students. Each piece addresses different questions such as:  Can we take action to save endangered species?  How can we listen to the environment around us?  What wisdom do our ancestors (or aliens) have to help us save the planet?  How are we connected to others through the resources we consume? How will we solve the complex puzzle and imagine new possibilities for the future? The performances begin in the courtyard behind the Center for Performing Arts. Tour guides will walk audience members to short presentations near Miami’s Center for Performing Arts and Hiestand Hall. 

The Climate Change Action Project reached across Miami University to create engaging collaborations for the show, including with the Miami University Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Ricardo Averbach and Dr. Roxanne Ornelas, associate professor of geography, is featured in a role. Student work includes projection designs from the Department of Emerging Technology in Business and Design, original music compositions, and more. Miami University has joined other universities in signing the President’s Climate Leadership Commitments, striving for carbon neutrality in the future.  This cultural event offers an opportunity to contemplate our personal role in our community’s commitment to the future. 

For more information about free ticketing, please visit Miami University’s Box Office HERE. This is a free event but it will be ticketed to maintain safe capacity and social distancing. For more information please visit the MU Theatre website HERE.

If you go:

Mother Earth’s Gallery of Broken Things: Miami University Theatre’s Climate Change Theatre Action, Directed by Ann Elizabeth Armstrong

April 28, 29, 30 & May 1, 7:30 p.m., Center for Performing Arts Plaza
Rain Dates: May 2 & 3

Short Performances: 

“Failed Experiment” by Vitor Jatoba

“The Butterfly that Persisted” by Lana I. Nasser

“Blood on the Leaves” by Madeline Sayet

“About that Chocolate Bar” by Joan Lipkin

“The Blue Puzzle” by Clare Duffy

“When they Twinkle” by Tyler Creech

“Brackendale” by Elaine Avila  

“Letter to the Ocean” by Caridad Svich

“It begins with Me” by Chantal Bilodeau

The team designing the production experience includes: students Tyler Creech (scene design); Kelsi Moore, Lily Rose, Annie Watson, Qiuyang Xiong (dramaturgs); Emily Stowers (assistant choreographer); Kevin Woeste (composer and sound designer); Jenna Wrona (lighting design); Taylor Yaeck (costume designer); Miami University faculty and staff members Gion DeFrancesco (production manager and designer); Ashley Goos (choreographer) Meggan Peters (costume) Curtis Mortimore (lighting/technical direction); and guest artists Jaclyn Schott (director) and Jason Sebasian (sound design).