For Earth Month
Two one-act plays looking at how protecting the environment comes down to more than environmental policy.
The Polar Bear by Maryanne Melloan Woods. In Southern Alaska, a Polar Bear has wandered far from its natural habitat and traps itself in the garage of Kayla and Dewey. Kayla is desperate to free the bear, but her husband is more interested in preparing his online audition for a dystopian movie scheduled to film in the state.
The Iceberg Effect by Michele Kushner. In the midst of the COVID lockdown, frustrated with her environmental scientist mother’s loss of the will to take action, thirteen-year-old Ellie has conjured up the forgotten figure of Eunice Foote, the first scientist to identify in 1856 the greenhouse gas theory. Ellie learns that the same entrenched forces that blocked Eunice’s contribution to the field are plaguing her mother 165 years later, only the stakes are even higher.
The evening includes a post-reading conversation with the authors.
Directed by John Pietrowski
Thanks to a generous grant from the Smart Foundation, the Madison Arts and Culture Alliance, in partnership with MCAC, will present concert readings of seven new works by women playwrights from New Jersey.