Culture
OU’s “Midnight Madness” Joins Global Climate Initiative
< < Back to ?p=143316“Midnight Madness,” Ohio University’s weekly short play festival, will join forces with Climate Change Theatre Action (CCTA) for its Dec. 4 production in Kantner Hall’s Hahne Theater.
There will be two performances of “Madness” with showtimes of 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., open and free to the public with limited seating.
Climate Change Theatre Action, a joint venture between the organizations NoPassport, The Arctic Cycle and Theatre Without Borders, is a series of worldwide readings and performances intended to bring awareness to, and foster discussion around, climate change in support of the United Nations 2015 Climate Conference (COP21) taking place Nov. 30 through Dec. 11.
“Midnight Madness” is part of the practical-based portion of the MFA playwriting program consisting of the weekly, informal production of new work. It begins early in the week with a different writer from the program serving as the week’s producer. The producer selects the theme, style, or concept for the upcoming week’s production.
Each writer must then write a three-to-five-minute play based upon that theme, style or concept. Each play is written, cast, and rehearsed throughout the week in preparation for the Friday night, script-in-hand production presented before an audience.
Tyler Whidden, third-year playwright and producer of the Dec. 4 production, said joining forces with CCTA was a unique opportunity for the writers and the program.
“To be able to use our craft and ‘Madness’ to help bring attention to a serious issue such as climate change is part of what we want to do as artists,” said Whidden. “This collaboration is a perfect example of us participating in the conversation.”
Chantal Bilodeau, one of the organizers of CCTA, holds three degrees from Ohio University, including her 2001 MFA in Playwriting.
Included in the Dec. 4 “Madness,” along with the eight MFA playwrights’ plays, will be works from international playwrights Darrah Cloud, Deborah Zoe Laufer, Koffi Kwahulé and Bilodeau.
The main goal of Climate Change Theatre Action is to invite as many people as possible, who may not otherwise pay attention to this history-in-the-making event, to participate in a global conversation.
Modeled on previous NoPassport theatre actions focused on gun control and the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill, CCTA draws on the expertise and resources of local artists, while being global in scope and uniting multiple countries and cultures around a common issue.
All CCTA events, including the Dec. 4 Madness, will be registered with ArtCOP21 – Cultural Programme for Paris Climate 2015.
This event is part of the College of Fine Arts Consortium for Historical and Critical Studies in the Arts, a year-long initiative organized around a theme. This year’s theme is “Earth Art: Arts in the Anthropocene.”