Human Nature’s new climate show,Tripping on the Tipping Point, had its world premiere last December in Durban South Africa where it played in conjunction with the United Nations climate summit. COP 17. (See review below).
The show makes use of the multiple suggestions of its title, portraying our species stumbling over the line beyond which the whole future of civilization is in jeopardy.It takes bawdy, wildly comic excursions–trips–onto some of the more absurd trails up which we find ourselves running without necessary reason. The show takes on several of the icons of contemporary society in its loopy search for eco-salvation and portrays even Gaia, the Goddess of the Earth, in a far more earthy way–a trip that forces us to leap from the great hilarity to abject pathos. Corporate America and its enabling litigation, Citizens’ United, comes in for its share of silly slander as do other directives from the Chamber of Commerce. Altogether, the show is a brisk shower, both hot and cold, silly and deeply serious, warmly suggesting that we confront the absurdity of our situation.
TERRA VIVA
DURBAN, Dec 6 – (TerraViva) A re-working of the Adam and Eve story into a side-splitting farce on the growing environmental crisis and its ramifications is on stage at the U.N. climate conference. This must-see political comedy draws on the traditions of vaudeville and agitprop to unpack many of the urgent issues raised around the negotiations, but with a spunk and humour absent from the ranks of grey suits inside the talks. Never preachy or didactic, “Tipping on the Tipping Point”, a play by the U.S.-based theatre company, Human Nature, sets out the looming ecological catastrophe and the complicity of unaccountable corporate power with wit, enthusiasm and charm. Jane Lapner and David Simpson started Human Nature in their home town in northern California over twenty years ago. The touring theatre company deals with environmental and social issues. They are performing in South Africa with their daughter, Joyful Raven, playing the earth goddess Gaia, and with Angus Martin, a California musician who composed original music for the show. Read the full review here…
