Marilyn Anne Campbell
Canadian writer of stage plays, stories, non-fiction, and what-have-you.
A Warmer World (work-in-progress)
by Marilyn Anne Campbell
Stage play: Theatre for Young Audiences, variable length, 4+ performers
"A Warmer World" is a versatile show for young audiences about our current ecological state, exploring the issues, the potential impacts, and the actions we can take around the climate crisis, pollution, and habitat loss. The play consists of monologues and short scenes featuring primarily teen characters, and is designed to be suitable both for a professional TYA company to present as a full-length show with a small cast playing multiple roles, or for a school to perform itself with flexibility in cast size and length. If presented in full, "A Warmer World" is expected to run approximately seventy minutes without intermission and offer a mix of styles of both comedy and drama.
Sample of Included Scenes:
Comfort Zone (1 speaking, 1 non-speaking, plus)
A shy teen speaks to the crowd to kick off their community's first climate strike.
Adaptation or Mitigation (4+ performers)
The newly-elected mayor of a small city participates in a game show to determine how to spend their limited climate crisis budget.
The Tree You Can't See (1 performer)
A spoken word ode to tree roots, and other hidden things.
Autopilot (2 performers)
A student and their subconscious struggle to incorporate new waste-reduction behaviours into their daily routine.
Foote Note (1F)
A long-dead Eunice Foote muses on the strangeness of history and on now being known as the world's first climate scientist, when she assumed she'd be remembered for something else.
Down with the Vote (2+ performers)
An 18-year-old is embarrassed by their younger sibling's plan to go viral as a way to support giving 16-year-olds the right to vote.
Riding Solo [working title] (1 performer)
A young teen rehearses how to gently break the news to their father that as much as they love spending time with him, and they no longer want a ride to school.
To Whom I Wish it Would Concern (3 performers)
Three letter-writers encourage those in positions of power to step up and do better.
A Warmer World (1 speaking, plus)
The same teen from "Comfort Zone" speaks with more confidence to a larger crowd about what they've learned, how far they've come, and how far there still is to go.
Are you a high school drama teacher looking for activities for your students?
"A Warmer World" is now in the feedback and revision stage. The show is a mix of monologues and small cast scenes (2-4 performers), with a few scenes that call for/ allow for larger groups. Because each segment stands alone, the show may be explored as a whole or worked on in smaller parts.
If you would like to engage your students in a play development process, I would be happy to work with several educators to have students rehearse, perform, and evaluate the current drafts and future revisions within their own classroom setting.
(Please note that at present playwright involvement is limited to online correspondence and virtual visits, even for Toronto-area schools.)
If you are interested, visit the contact page to connect via email or social media.
Status:
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Work-in-progress
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First drafts written with the support of the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council
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In revisions; available for workshopping with TYA companies or in a classroom setting with teen performers (see sidebar/below on mobile)
A Little History
The idea for a "A Warmer World" came out of an online course I took through Cornell University's Civic Ecology Lab, "Climate Change Science, Action, and Communication."
