Water Wor(l)ds Surfaces in Singapore; Climate Change on Stage and Film

Climate change is making itself felt on the London stage. Three plays on the theme open inside 10 days, starting with this major offering from the National Theatre. In Singapore, World Water Day and World Storytelling Day come together on 20 March in an aptly titled and unique celebration – “Water Wor(l)ds” – devised and organised by  Roger Jenkins, supported by the Singapore Environment Council. In Santa Monica, California, “ThinkSwiss Climate Trail & Polar Wonders: Photographs From the End of the World” went on show earlier this month.

Singapore Storytellers Come Out in the Open for World Water Day

World Water Day and World Storytelling Day come together on 20 March in an aptly titled and unique celebration – “Water Wor(l)ds” – devised and organised by  Singapore’s Roger Jenkins, himself a storyteller, director, teacher and author.

Stories with a water theme will be told and acted out at two venues during the day – Sengkang Wetlands stage and Lower Seletar Reservoir – while in the evening a gala performance will be held at the NTUC Auditorium, 1 Marina Boulevard, which also provides a panoramic view of the Marina Bay Reservoir.

Traditional tales from around the world – from the mountains of Ecuador to the mouth of the Ganges – will be told by professional storytellers Roger Jenkins, Chuah Ai Lin and Dolly Chew, with Gillian Tan sharing some stories in song.

Roger Jenkins explains that the importance of water – and storytelling – is universal. “Water is a symbol for life, cleanliness, renewal and healing”.  He quotes Ursala K Le Guin who said: “There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there are no societies that did not tell stories”.

For the evening performance at NTUC Auditorium, commencing at 8pm, it is necessary to book in advance for a seat, but entry is by donation. Funds collected by the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) will go towards a water conservation project in an ASEAN country.

Roger Jenkins says he has three main objectives in organising the World Water Day’s event:

• To enable a wide range of people of all ages to tell and listen to stories;
• To raise awareness of the importance of water;
• To raise funds for a water related project in an ASEAN country.

Internationally, the organisers of World Storytelling Day – www.worldstorytellingday.webs.com – have adopted the theme of water for the first time this year, while the international observance of World Water Day – www.worldwaterday2011.org  – is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

For more information on the day and evening activities go to www.rogerjenkins.com.sg and to make booking for the event at NTUC Auditorium on 20 March at 8pm, email to: waterworlds@rogerjenkins.com.sg

From Switzerland to Santa Monica

A traveling photography exhibit and program highlighting global climate change, developed by the Swiss government, is making a stop in Santa Monica this month.

The “ThinkSwiss Climate Trail & Polar Wonders: Photographs From the End of the World” event  provides a unique opportunity to get an artistic and scientific impression of climate change.

The educational displays and photography exhibit was dispersed throughout the Santa Monica Main Library Lobby and Youth Services Area at 601 Santa Monica Blvd.  

This presentation is open to the public, free of charge, and offers the Santa Monica community an opportunity to:

• Meet award winning photographer Daisy Gilardini and hear her speak about her expeditions to the polar regions.

• Learn about climate change from a scientific perspective as Konrad Steffen, Director, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado will discuss the global issues and answer your questions.

• See a film by documentarian Corina Gamma about the wildlife in Antarctica.

Event jointly organized by the City of Santa Monica Office of Sustainability & the Environment / SantaMonica Public Library / Sustainable Works and the Swiss Consulate General of Switzerland in Los Angeles as part of its U.S.–wide program ThinkSwiss-Brainstorm the Future.

The ThinkSwiss Climate Trail is a pathfinder toward global solutions. During workshops, conferences and fairs in many U.S. cities, thou­sands of people have walked the Climate Trail exhibition. It offers an interactive opportunity to learn about global warming and en­courages multidisciplinary discussions about how to pursue a more sustainable lifestyle.

The dramatic increase in greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere has led to an increase in global temperatures and the destabilization of the earth’s climate. Globally, 11 of the hottest 12 years on record have occurred since 1995. In the past century, the earth’s surface has warmed by about 1.4°F, while arctic temperatures have risen at almost twice the global rate. The public health consequences of global warm­ing will have drastic effects. If warming continues, more than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050.

There is not a single solution to address this pressing environmental problem; only a combination of measures will provide an effective response. Given rising prices for fossil fuels, renewable energy is an attractive alternative. Solar energy—the fastest growing energy technology in the world—increased by 50% in 2007 while wind power grew by 28% worldwide. Biomass and geothermal energy are also increasingly used for power and heating.

Switzerland is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 8% below 1990 levels by 2012. The use of hydropower already meets 60% of Switzerland’s electricity needs, while public transportation and energy-efficient vehicles provide alternative modes of travel. The Swiss railroad system ranks among the best in the world: more than 50% of Switzerland’s adults are regular train travelers.

Switzerland has also increased its construction of energy- efficient buildings by 16 times since 2000. Buildings are responsible for 40% of energy use in most countries. In addition, Swiss scientific institutes conduct excel­lent climate research and produce state-of-the-art technology.

Global warming will remain a primary concern on the international agenda in the coming years. As one of its top priorities, Switzerland is strongly committed to finding and implementing solutions in col­laboration with other countries. We can all become climate heroes by using new technology and adopting a more sustainable way of living.

Source: www.smdp.com and www.thinkswiss.org

By Sarah Hemming for Financial Times (4 February 2011):

Climate change is making itself felt on the London stage. Three plays on the theme open inside 10 days, starting with this major offering from the National Theatre. It’s great to see the National tackling big issues of common concern, and it goes about it with tremendous ambition and energy. The result, unfortunately, is neither fish nor fowl. One of the central points of the piece is the difficulty of achieving anything at climate change conferences. Sadly that same unwieldiness seems to apply here: it flounders under its own weight.

The theatre has commissioned four playwrights (Moira Buffini, Matt Charman, Penelope Skinner and Jack Thorne), whose contributions are woven together by dramaturge Ben Power and director Bijan Sheibani. We have a wealth of mini-narratives that bob to the surface in turn, each offering a different perspective.

There is the passionate young eco-activist trying to explain her single-mindedness to her perplexed mother. There is the Arctic observer communing with his younger self on the shrinking ice. There is the lesbian couple at loggerheads over how to conduct their daily life. And there is the government adviser who is hoping to get a scientist to present his terrifying climate projections to the 2009 UN climate change conference. Present, too, are delegates from Mali and a lad who talks generally about risk and choice.

The piece certainly reaches for something epic and catches the paralysed sense of confusion as to what to do. I like the non-naturalistic style and Sheibani’s ambitious staging (designed by Bunny Christie), which uses the height and depth of the stage to create an apocalyptic dreamscape and deluges the hard-working cast variously in plastic bottles, sheets of paper and pouring rain. It has some beautiful moments, particularly when a huge, lifelike polar bear lumbers on to the stage.

But a downside of this kaleidoscopic approach is that nothing beds in and there is little real progress. The characters are thinly drawn, their relationships flimsy and their arguments often grimly clichéd. Theatre can be excellent at dialectic, or at plunging you into characters’ lives. This piece doesn’t do either: it neither rattles your brain cells nor stirs your emotions. This is a huge subject – you long for rigour, clarity, urgency, to have your ideas tested and your understanding increased. Greenland is a noble venture, but it feels like an opportunity missed. 

National Theatre

Source: www.ft.com