Lighting the Way

Lighting the Way: An Anthology of Short Plays About the Climate Crisis includes 49 inspiring plays by writers from around the world. The plays were commissioned for Climate Change Theatre Action 2019, a global distributed theatre festival that coincided with the 25th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP 25) held in Madrid, Spain under the presidency of the Chilean government. Responding to a prompt asking them to "give center stage to the unsung climate warriors and climate heroes who are lighting the way toward a just and sustainable future," the writers offer a diversity of perspectives and artistic approaches to telling the stories of those who are making a positive impact. Whether exploring the definition of climate heroism, new technologies like mango leather, or giving legal rights to Nature, the plays go beyond the dystopian worlds and apocalyptic scenarios favored by blockbuster movies and sci-fi novels to tell nuanced and empowering stories - stories that give us the courage to get up in the morning and fight for the world we all deserve.

Included in this anthology are plays by Hassan Abdulrazzak, Elaine Ávila, Chantal Bilodeau, Yolanda Bonnell, Philip Braithwaite, Damon Chua, Paula Cizmar, Hanna Cormick, Derek Davidson, Sunny Drake, Clare Duffy, Brian Dykstra, Alister Emerson, Georgina Escobar, David Finnigan, David Geary, Nelson Gray, Jordan Hall, Kamil Haque, Monica Hoth, Zainabu Jallo, Vinicius Jatobá, Vitor Jatobá, Marcia Johnson, MaryAnn Karanja, Andrea Lepcio, Joan Lipkin, Philip Luswata, Abhishek Majumdar, Julie McKee, Giovanni Ortega, Mary Kathryn Nagle, Lana Nasser, Yvette Nolan, Matthew Paul Olmos, Corey Payette, Katie Pearl, Shy Richardson and Karina Yager, Kiana Rivera, Madeline Sayet, Stephen Sewell, Lena Šimic with Neal and Sid Anderson, Caridad Svich, Elspeth Tilley, Peterson Toscano, Mike van Graan, Meaza Worku, Marcus Youssef, and Nathan Yungerberg.

An introduction by Chantal Bilodeau and essays by Julia Levine, Charissa Menefee, Thomas Peterson, Triga Creative, and Brooke Wood, illustrating various aspects of the Climate Change Theatre Action process and analyzing its impacts, accompany the plays.