Teaching in the English Department, I have found that integrating climate content into my course has been a great opportunity for experiential learning.
On October 17 from 4:15-5:00pm, students in my Canadian Drama course (ENGL 3304) will perform a five-minute climate play, followed by a discussion with the audience. This performance of “Magical Fungi in Times Square” by Canadian-American playwright Chantal Bilodeau is part of Climate Change Theatre Action, a global festival of short plays about the climate crisis.
The festival’s theme, inspired by science fiction author Octavia Butler, is “All Good Things Must Begin.” Participants around the world are pairing some form of climate action to performances of short plays from the festival.
Our event at KPU allows each of my students to choose their own way to contribute to the performance and climate discussion. In addition to the three performers, students in the course are speakers, researchers, questioners, a prop designer, a scenery artist, a fact sheet developer, and a Fun Guy (like fungi—a pun very much intended!) ready to ask audience members about their most magical moments with their natural environments. After the event, each student will write a short essay explaining the significance of their own contributions to the group effort.
What I find rewarding about this teaching experience is the way students work together in class to give each other feedback and to make collective decisions about how every element of the event will go. We also worked together to analyze the play, but the event means that they get to see their reading of the play brought to life and brought into conversation with a broader audience. I hope this means that they will feel the good consequences of their hard work—that they will have experienced some good things beginning.
We welcome you to attend!
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
4:15-5:00pm
Surrey campus library (1st floor, at the back)
Dale Tracy is a faculty member in the English Department and a coordinator of the Climate+ Challenge. Are you interested in incorporating climate theatre into your work at KPU? Feel free to be in touch: dale.tracy@kpu.ca.