On December 3, 2025, an audience of about 80 people gathered at Halle für Kunst to see the Climate Change Theatre Action (CCTA) performance of four short plays by Alister Emerson, Jordan Hall, Marcia Johnson, and Tira Palmquist, and to engage in a lively discussion with the students of Nassim Balestrini’s seminar on contemporary North American drama and theater who acted in, directed, and produced the plays. The performances, all of which went remarkably well, received enthusiastic applause. Both the student performers and the student mc connected wonderfully with the audience, which included students from classes taught by Julia Hoydis (English Studies) and Ulla Kriebernegg (CIRAC). The mixture of frightening topics like suicidal thoughts as a response to the climate crisis, on the one hand, and of humor and satire about human complacency and consciously myopic behaviors, on the other hand, kept the audience members engaged. Thus, it was not surprising that the subsequent 45-minute discussion was lively and spilled over into post-event conversations in the foyer. CIMIG and the Department of American Studies are grateful to Halle für Kunst for allowing us to use their impressive premises for this science-to-public event and to Julia Hoydis and Ulla Kriebernegg for their collaboration.
Here are two comments by students on their experience:
“I think, we managed to not only raise awareness of the topic but also touch the audience emotionally in regards to what is happening to our climate. The use of humorous as well as more serious plays successfully started an active discussion about the underlying issue of the plays. I believe that we created a feeling of “togetherness,” which highlights that nobody is alone when sometimes feeling lost and unable to do anything about climate change. The chosen plays also highlighted the importance of smaller actions, that not only heroic actions matter but even small, personal choices, like not using a plastic straw, can already make a difference.”
“A couple of people I talked to after the event were not only interested in talking about the topic but also asked questions about our production process. This goes to show also that not only the topic of climate change but also the potential to discuss it via theater speaks to them and I assume/I hope this is not only the case with the people I talked to.”