A Shared Vision in Challenging Times
We are thrilled to present Scenes from the Climate Era as the first-ever collaboration between Auckland Theatre Company and Silo Theatre. This landmark partnership is a direct response to the increasing challenges faced by our industry in recent years, and the desire to continue presenting highquality theatre for Tāmaki Makaurau audiences which uplifts, questions and generates conversations.
Like all vital and impactful storytelling, Scenes from the Climate Era poses more questions than answers, and it was these questions that brought us together as companies to partner on this production. How do you create a compelling piece of theatre about the climate crisis? How do you create theatre responsibly without thought-spiralling about the environmental impact of every single decision involved in bringing a work to the stage? What does it mean to stage work about the climate crisis in Aotearoa and reflect our unique cultural context?
These are the questions that formed the foundation of our kaupapa and led us to engage Dr Dan Hikuroa as our Climate and Mātauranga Advisor for the production. We’re very grateful for the collaborative spirit that playwright David Finnigan, director Jason Te Kare and Dr Dan Hikuroa have engaged in
to bring a Mātauranga Māori lens both to the script and how we think about the protection of the environment in Aotearoa more broadly.
As theatre-makers, we are always chasing experiences for audiences that are bold, alive, and galvanising, and we have found that coming together to create this production has also been invigorating for us both as companies. Sharing knowledge, resources, and friendship, has allowed us to wrap around this brilliant company of artists more than we can on our own, and it has been a joy to watch them create an intimate and connected conversation about an epic and often impenetrable topic throughout the rehearsal process.
This production is a testament to the power of collaboration. We are incredibly proud to share this work with you.
Ngā mihi,
Jonathan Bielski
Sophie Roberts Artistic Director & CEO Artistic Director Auckland Theatre Company Silo Theatre
CAST
Dawn Cheong, Nī Dekkers-Reihana, Arlo Green, Sean Dioneda Rivera, Amanda Tito
CREATIVE
Playwright — David Finnigan
Director — Jason Te Kare
Spatial & Lighting Designer — Jane Hakaraia
Spatial & Costume Designer — Nati Pereira
Sound Designer — Leon Radojkovic
Climate & Mātauranga Advisor — Dr Dan Hikuroa
PRODUCTION
Production Manager — Spencer Earwaker
Stage Manager — Catherine Grealish
Technical Operator — Ella Madsen Brough
Teaching Artists — Isla Mayo and Jonathan Price
Education Pack Writers — Anna Richardson and Jonathan Price
Publicity — Michelle Lafferty, Elephant Publicity
Production Photographer — Andi Crown
Rehearsal Photographer — David St George
Vocal Coach – Jacque Drew
2 – 24 AUGUST 2024 | Q THEATRE
Scenes from the Climate Era by David Finnigan was commissioned by Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney and received its world premiere at Belvoir on Saturday 27 May 2023 in a production directed by Carissa Licciardello. The play received its New Zealand premiere in a coproduction by Auckland Theatre Company and Silo Theatre directed by Jason Te Kare, with previews beginning on Friday 2 August and opening on Saturday 3 August 2024 in Rangatira at Q Theatre.
Scenes from the Climate Era is 1 hour and 20 minutes with no interval. Please switch off all noise-emitting devices.
Music credit: “Hot in Herre”
Written by: Haynes/Brown/Williams | Universal Music-MGB Songs
Administered by: Universal Music Publishing Pty Ltd
Subscription Photographer — Tony Drayton
Campaign Photographer — Toaki Okano
Production Photographer — Andi Crown
Auckland Theatre Company and Silo Theatre would like to thank the following for their help with this production: Afaf Arabi, Anna Parry, Colin Moy, Fiona ‘Ofamo’oni, Forrest Denize, Glenys Roberts, Jake Brown, Jess Sayer, Marko Radojkovic, Noeline Pengelly, Sean Patrick Mahoney,Rokiah Binti Onn, Roy Iro, Sam Brooks, Sebastian Rojas Soto, Tautahi Subritzky, Kate Ward-Smythe, Greg Innes and Q Theatre.
Note from the Playwright
Scenes from Scenes from the Climate Era The text: fluid and evolving
The Director, the designers and the Doctor
Note from the Director
Direction: Minimalist & Meta
Working with Dr Dan Hikuroa
Scene Two: Three Field Recordings
Exploring the Director’s and Designers Concept Exploring Wider Context and Scenes from the Climate Era
Exploring Characterisation in Scenes from the Climate Era
Scenes from the Climate Era and Level One NCEA
Scenes from the Climate Era and Level Two and Three Revision
Note from the Playwright
In 2018, everything changed.
We’ve been talking about climate change since the 1970s. For most of those five decades, the conversation has been stuck in a loop: politicians, businesses, activists, scientists and climate deniers, all saying the same things. The only thing changing has been the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
At the end of the last decade, it all broke loose.
In the political sphere, governments and businesses started signing up (sincerely or not) to ‘Net Zero by 2050’ pledges. There was a new wave of climate activism, from Extinction
Rebellion to the school strikes, both larger and more extreme than anything that had come before.
In science conferences and journals, climate scientists began debating solutions that would have been unacceptable just five years earlier. Fossil fuel lobbyists and pundits shifted tactics from direct climate denial to the language of greenwashing and delay. And, all over the world, climate impacts hit harder and faster than any model predicted.
I’ve been making theatre with climate researchers for nearly 20 years. Before that, I grew up surrounded by environmental
scientists (my dad is a climate researcher, specialising in turbulence and wind flow). In the whole time I’ve been following the climate conversation, I’ve never seen anything like the last five years. Everything is shifting, rapidly, in good ways and bad, and the pace is dizzying.
I wrote this play as an attempt to capture some of the thousands of stories unfolding in this space over the last few years. This is a selection of some of the things shared with me by colleagues working in research, in climate policy, in the mining industry, on the frontlines of activism, and in many other sectors.
I was raised to live in a world that was a certain way. That world no longer exists. Truthfully, it was gone before any of us were born. We were educated to live on a planet that was already gone and we didn’t know it. Now we’re starting to take stock of the world in which we actually live, and that means rethinking everything.
This play is a snapshot of some of the contours of this new world. And it’s also an invitation because we can’t navigate this new world by ourselves. So, we’re inviting you here for a conversation, to help us figure
out: What is this new planet we’ve found ourselves on? And how are we going to get through it?
In preparing for this production, I was lucky to work with director Jason Te Kare and scholar Tom Doig to sharpen the Aotearoa focus in these stories.
Here is an incomplete list of people whose work I’ve drawn on in telling these stories: Anab Jain, Honor Harger, Ketan Joshi, Naomi Oreskes, Issa Lopez, Peter Brannen, Alex Steffen, Ben Yeoh, Andreas Malm, Anna Emmelin, Brian Walker, Beth Fulton, Roger Bradbury, AnneMarie Grisogono, Victor Steffensen, Greg Mullins, Bernie Krause, Clive Hamilton, Kim Stanley Robinson, James Bradley, Ed Yong, Thom Van Dooren, Rebecca Huntley, Tyson Yunkaporta, Cassie Lynch, MichaelShawn Fletcher, Dan Hill, Holly Jean Buck, John Finnigan, Will Steffen, James Vaccaro, Kimberley Jutze, Lydia Hascott, Elizabeth Kolpert, David Wallace-Wells, Gaia Vince, Amitav Ghosh, Derrick Jensen, Jamie McCaughey, Sabrina Smith, and DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ’s incredible 2020 album Charmed, which soundtracked the writing of this play.
David Finnigan
SCENES
A DIFFICULT CONVERSATION
BEGINNER’S GUIDE
SCIENTISTS DISCUSS A CLIMATE MODEL
THREE FIELD RECORDINGS
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
LAST PLANE FLIGHT A VIGIL
POST-SHOW DISCUSSION
ILLEGAL CAT
FOCUS GROUP
CLIMATE THERAPY
NEW REEF
BUDJ BIM
A NIGHTCLUB
NUB PAR: WAVES ON SAND
BANKS & NET ZERO
ANTARCTIC SEAWALLS
X-SHREDDER MOUSE
ALMOND FIELDS
PIPELINE ATTACKS
BACKTAIL WAS HEAVY
HOPE IS THE ENEMY
EVACUATION BINGO
SNAPSHOTS
POST-EVERYTHING
Scenes from the Climate Era rehearsals. Photo: David St George
The text: fluid and evolving
We often think of playtexts as being written in stone: unchangeable. However, this is not always the case. Scenes from the Climate Era is a great example of how plays can be fluid and evolving to better fit the performance context.
“When I wrote this script originally there were a hundred different scenes, snapshots from all around the world. Inevitably, when a particular theatre company says we want to produce the play, I’d say, well, what are the scenes that are most relevant to what’s happening in your space, your time? And that meant that some scenes would get cut, and occasionally some scenes would get added through conversations. So when we began the conversation with ATC and Silo, we began zeroing in on which of the scenes feel most relevant and alive in New Zealand at this moment, and we began thinking about what additional scenes might make sense in this context.
“Therefore, the text of ATC and Silo’s production of Scenes is different from the one that premiered at Belvoir Theatre, Sydney, one year ago. This vision is in keeping with director Jason Te Kare’s desire that the play should feel like a conversation, one that is really taking place in the here-and-now.
“There is no canonical version of this particular work. The title Scenes from the Climate Era really says it: as the conversations keep changing, the play keeps changing.”
– David Finnigan
[Finnigan’s words drawn from his appearance on RNZ’s Saturday morning programme, 06 July 2024.
David Finnigan: Scenes from the Climate Era | RNZ]
Note from the Director
Scenes from the Climate Era invites us into the most fascinating conversations David Finnigan has experienced as a climate consultant. Through both his ability as a playwright and the knowledge gained from working with climate and earth scientists, David crafts these conversations into a theatrical form. What we get is an all-access pass to these conversations, examining the choices humans have made, are making, and are likely to have to make.
It has been fascinating to see which scenes connect with individuals as people delve into the script. The form of the play casts a wide net to engage a range of thinking. There is an openness to the storytelling that does not dictate what you should
think or do. I have never directed a play that has spoken so directly to what I do day to day, feeling such a strong responsibility for every action I take throughout a day. It is easy to get tied in knots trying to figure out the right thing to do – denial, solutions, grief, and hope are all touched upon in the very first scene. While working on this production, I have cycled through these emotions, sometimes loosening the knots, sometimes tightening them. This play is not about breaking free; it is about the knots. Therefore, if you are expecting solutions, you will not find them here. What you will discover are engaging emotional moments that will leave you with plenty to think about and much to discuss, and, hopefully, you will experience great theatre.
Jason Te Kare
JASON TE KARE | Director
Ngāti Maniapoto, Tainui
Jason Te Kare has been a proud member of the Māori theatre community for over two decades. He is an award-winning actor, director and theatre-maker who grew up in Glen Innes on the banks of the Tāmaki River. His love for performing began with kapa haka and Te Wairere O Tāmaki. In his early teen years, he discovered theatre through Maidment Youth Theatre (the first incarnation of Massive Theatre Company). Then, when Jason was 19 years old, his love for theatre and for his culture combined when he made his professional acting debut in Hone Kouka’s seminal work Waiora.
Since then, Jason has directed and performed on stages in Australia, Hawai’i, England, Canada and all over Aotearoa. He has been a drama producer for Radio New Zealand, an arts programmer for Auckland Council and an associate artist and associate artistic director for Silo Theatre, and has created work through his own theatre company, TOA Productions.
He has had many career highlights. Some of his favourites include: sweeping the floor, hanging out, and helping out as Sharyn Duncan, Willa O’Neill and Katrina Chandra built and established the original Basement Theatre, situated in the underground car park below the Watershed Theatre; performing for the people of Northland in Silo Theatre’s touring production of Every Brilliant Thing; and being acknowledged by Moana Jackson for Cellfish, a play he wrote with Miriama McDowell and Rob Mokaraka, about the complexities and failures that have resulted in the over-representation of Māori men in our prison system.
Jason Te Kare and the cast pre-show. Photo: Andi Crown
Direction and Design: Minimalist & Meta
Each of the 25 vignettes in Scenes from the Climate Era occurs in a different time and location, with some scenes lasting only 30 seconds before rapidly moving on. The script has no main character arc, but brings together a multitude of viewpoints around a central issue. This poses a challenging question to the creative team: how do you contain so many places, moments, and characters in a single space, in a brief span of time?
– Director Jason Te Kare describes how he began to problem-solve this challenge.
became more and more obvious that the answer was in the script and in what we had. We’re in a theatre. With five actors. Doing a bunch of scenes. Here we all are in a space where stories take place.
Te Kare and the creative team decided on a design which would constantly remind the audience that they are sitting in a theatre, with only a few walls separating them from the outside world. Instead of watching a spectacle intended to immerse you in an imaginary world, the design will acknowledge its own artificiality and keep bringing the audience back to the present moment.
Te Kare: It was important to me, when analysing the script, that this is a conversation with our audience. We’re speaking directly to them, we’re sharing the space with them, we’re talking from the place of here and now about the past, about the future and about the present. So I envisioned a space where these conversations take place. Is it a civic space? Is it a town hall? Is it a marae? Is it a wānanga space? It
Nati Pereira (Spatial & Costume Designer):
We want to have an open stage, open theatre. We don’t want to hide any of the mechanisms. [...] We want to use materials and objects that we could find in the theatre. We won’t have a set, except something that we could “find” in the theatre: chairs, tables, things that are very familiar.
Jane Hakaraia (Spatial & Lighting Designer):
We’re top-lighting the whole audience and the stage, but the whole stage is “zoomable”, so we can go from a stage wash to a –vrooom! – down to a really tight spot. We’re going to be playing around with practicals, creating moments where the actors create lighting states themselves.
Theatre term: “Practical”
Practicals are light sources from outside of the theatre that can be manipulated by actors, eg. torches and lamps.
Pereira:
With the costumes, we want to use the same language as with the props. We could find [the characters] walking in the street. Maybe we could find them in the audience.
The approach that Te Kare, Hakaraia, and Pereira are outlining here could be described as metatheatrical. In metatheatrical works, the play acknowledges its own theatricality. This self-awareness can manifest in a variety of ways, for example, actors breaking the fourth wall to address the audience or commenting on their own roles. Design elements can be metatheatrical too, as in Leon Radojkovic’s sound design.
Radojkovic:
[The sound design is] built from the natural world: it’s big, it’s pretty brutal and it’s pretty ominous and it’s relentless. One thing I really gravitated towards were recordings of glaciers and iceflows. It’s quite representative in our heads, when we think about climate change we think about ice melting. I realised the range of sounds ice can make is quite astonishing. It ranges from sub/bass rumbles, giant cracks when icebergs carve off from the glacier, to more delicate sounds like when they release gas it makes an effervescent, tinkly sound.
Leon Radojkovic (Sound Designer):
I don’t think in general the sound should be something that creeps in and out; it should hit with an impact. We want it to sort of drop, and punch the audience in the face. It’s not necessarily following what’s happening in any given scene. The sound functions as a frame.
A bold sound design drawing on the natural world is likely to highlight the constructed nature of a show in a metatheatrical way while also pointing the audience directly back towards the world we live in. It also plays a crucial role in creating pace, tension and entertainment.
Hakaraia:
I was talking to Leon about how cool it would be if every lighting state had sounds going with it.
Radojkovic:
I’m really looking for impact and momentum and energy to push us through transitional moments and give us a sense of urgency.
Te Kare: Without a central character/ narrative, we’ve got to hold the audience’s attention not only with the strength of the writing, but with theatricality. Bang, bang, bang! We’ve got to get in and out of environments really quickly.
Theatre term: “Metatheatre” Theatre that draws attention to itself as a constructed work of art. Metatheatre has a long history in western theatre, for example in the work of Bertold Brecht, Shakespeare, and even the Ancient Greeks.
Further exploration: Epic Theatre
Form of didactic drama presenting a series of loosely connected scenes that avoid illusion and often interrupt the story line to address the audience directly with analysis, argument, or documentation. Epic theatre is now most often associated with the dramatic theory and practice evolved by the playwright-director Bertolt Brecht in Germany from the 1920s onward.
Epic theatre | Definition, Elements, Examples, & Facts | Britannica
Climate Noticeboard
We know the climate crisis can feel pretty overwhelming. We also know that a problem shared is a problem halved – check out our Climate Noticeboard to find groups in our community that are doing good, and how you can get involved.
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Working with Dr Dan Hikuroa
DR DAN HIKUROA| Climate & Mātauranga Advisor
Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Whanaunga, Ngāti Mahuta, Pākehā
Auckland Theatre Company and Silo Theatre are privileged to have Dr Dan Hikuroa, climate scientist and Associate Professor in Māori Studies at the University of Auckland, supporting our rōpū as Climate and Mātauranga Advisor for Scenes from the Climate Era.
Dr Dan Hikuroa has helped expand our knowledge around climate change’s effects and shown us how Mātauranga Māori and Western climate science can be woven together to deepen our understanding of how earth systems function here in Aotearoa.
The connection is evident in Dr Dan Hikuroa’s research work alongside
anthropologist Dame Anne Salmond and Professor Gary Brierley, Let the Rivers Speak: thinking about waterways in Aotearoa New Zealand is a fascinating example of this blending of practice, put to work here in Aotearoa. Follow this link to read the full article.
Below we have included an extract from another key peice of Dr Dan Hikuroa’s research, Mātauranga Māori – the ūkaipō of knowledge in New Zealand. This piece looks at the differences and similarities between these two modes of understanding the world, and why each perspective can strengthen the other.
Extract from: Mātauranga Māori – the ūkaipō of knowledge in New Zealand by
D. Hikuroa
Mātauranga Māori spans Māori knowledge, culture, values and world view. Pūrākau and maramataka, forms of Mātauranga Māori, comprise knowledge generated using methods and techniques developed independently from other knowledge systems. Hitherto mostly ignored or disregarded by the science
community because it seemed to be myth and legend, fantastic and implausible, Mātauranga Māori includes knowledge generated using techniques consistent with the scientific method, but explained according to a Māori world view. Acknowledging this extends the history of scientific endeavour back to when Māori arrived in Aotearoa and Te Wai Pounamu, many centuries ago. Follow this link to read the full article.
Scenes from a Climate Rehearsal
On Friday 12 July, Auckland Theatre Company and Silo Theatre welcomed Climate & Mātauranga Advisor Dr Dan Hikuroa to observe rehearsals and offer insight from the perspective of both climate science and indigenous knowledge.
SCENE ONE: SCIENTISTS
DISCUSS A CLIMATE MODEL
The actors have just presented a work-in-progress version of a scene called “Scientists discuss a climate model”. The scene is set in 1981, and a scientist, “A” is about to go on TV to talk about climate change. They are being prepped by another scientist, “B”. The only problem is, “A” isn’t convinced. The two characters have an argument in which A claims: “This whole idea of predicting the climate in fifty years on a computer. It’s tech gone crazy.”
Dr. Hikuroa: From my understanding, that would have been entirely consistent with what was going on in the 1980’s. The cool thing there is that it was being genuinely, scientifically unconvinced, as opposed to folks in the 90’s and early 2000’s who were – and I’m allowed to be cynical – getting paid handsomely to be unconvinced. And that came across really clearly.… One of the challenges I have about trying to communicate what I do is people think that science is all about certainty. But, no, actually we’re about trying to reduce uncertainty. So having a questioning mind is all about being a really robust scientist.
Amanda Tito:Hearing you talk about it reshapes the way I see this scene. Because I feel like I jumped in with the 90’s viewpoint that this is a man who’s been paid to say these things, but hearing you talk, it’s, like, a scientist has no absolutes. Me [Scientist B] pushing him [Scientist A] to say something that can’t possibly be a complete truth, I’m actually being the shitty scientist. So that whole chat has reframed this scene for me in regards to who I am.
Arlo Green: How much responsibility do scientists feel when entering a public forum? If you’re going to go on TV or radio, does that change how you approach?
Dr. Hikuroa: It does and it’s quite variable. There are some scientists that say, “We just produce information; politicians determine how it gets used.” I disagree with that. As a scientist I try to be crystal clear about what I’m confident of, what I don’t know, and what I might be having a guess at. And as long as I’m being really honest on those I think I’m being stand-up in what I do.
SCENE TWO: THREE FIELD RECORDINGS
The company has just presented a scene called “Three Field Recordings” in which three recordings of the same location near the Waikato River, taken twenty years apart, reveal the gradual diminishment of biodiversity and the intrusion of human-made sounds.
Dr. Hikuroa: Just a reflection, it reminds me of this concept called “declining baselines”. It’s often associated with fishing. So you can imagine a fishing expedition in the 30s, and the whole boat is filled with massive fish: “a good day’s fishing!”. And then you shift forward 20 years, like you did here,
and you might have fewer fish, smaller size, but still “a good day’s fishing”. And then you go another 20 years, smaller fish. And the key thing is, everyone had a good day’s fishing. Except for the fish. Because the make-up of the population, of the species diversity is completely shifted.
Te Kare: I remember getting pipi from St Heliers Bay when I was a kid. No way in hell you’re finding pipi there now.
Dr. Hikuroa: As humans a lot of what we know is based on experience. And to be able to experience that [declining baseline] beyond what we know and to think about those multiyear time scales is important.
SCENE THREE: FOCUS GROUP
The actors have just presented a scene called “Focus group”, in which a social scientist from a research organisation talks to a local community about offshore oil and gas. They get a range of responses, angry and humorous, from concern about local jobs, to indignation at the impact of wind turbines on native fauna.
Dr. Hikuroa: The cool thing is that it looks like you all want the same thing, but you’re talking round in circles about how we get to that thing. And that’s part of the problem. Focus groups are like that! Have you ever been in a focus group?
Cast: No.
Dr. Hikuroa: Oh they can be dynamite!
Te Kare: Really?
Dr. Hikuroa: Oh yeah.
Arlo Green: Maybe we need a bit more dynamite then!
Te Kare: Like, people really pushing their opinion?
Dawn Cheong: And do you recognise these people [that we’re playing]?
Dr. Hikuroa: Yep. We recently had a community meeting near Rotorua, would have been about a hundred and fifty people. So that’s all real. We were using a model which uses mauri as a framework.
Dawn Cheong: Did you have an outcome in your head when you came in? Would Nī’s character be, like, OK, it’s my job to get everyone to agree or disagree?
Dr. Hikuroa: Our agenda was to make sure that the breadth of opinions and values was going to be heard and then considered in decision, because our fear was that a very small window of views and opinions would be heard. We anticipated that it would bring in whole lot of information that had not hitherto been involved in that process.
Te Kare: Do you get a situation where people in the meeting cast you as someone who has an opinion even though you’re trying your best to be neutral?
Dr. Hikuroa: You do get people trying to do that, and what we do in that instance is say, “All of that stuff on the board came from you all, none of it came from me. That’s what the room said? Do we agree? OK, ka pai, haere tonu.”
Nī Dekkers Reihana: Great, that’s very useful for me. Because that is what I feel like is on the tip of my tongue to say [in the scene].
Dr. Dan Hikuroa: And I could sense you were thinking that! It’s like, I’m a social scientist, I can’t say that, I have to be neutral, I’m Switzerland, I’m Switzerland!
Gallery
“Storytelling is part of what I do for my trade. Much science is about telling stories, within rules, making sense of the world.”
– Dr Dan Hikuroa
“We want to have an open stage, open theatre. We don’t want to hide any of the mechanisms.”
– Nati
Pereira
(Spatial &
Costume Designer)
“We’re top-lighting the whole audience and the stage, but the whole stage is “zoomable”, so we can go from a stage wash to a –vrooom! – down to a really tight spot. We’re going to be playing around with practicals, creating moments where the actors create lighting states themselves.”
– Jane Hakaraia (Spatial & Lighting Designer)
Scenes from the Climate Era rehearsals.
Photo: David St George
“Be
a good ancestor. The future is ancestral - indigenous ways are far more likely to work to get us out of this.”
– Dr Dan Hikuroa
“An indigenous worldview is when you see yourself as part of the environment and not apart from the environment. This might significantly change the way you behave in a day to day manner.”
– Dr Dan Hikuroa
Meet the cast
SEAN
RIVERA Filipino-Pākehā AMANDA TITO
Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Whātua, Ngāpuhi
Ngā Puhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Porou
DAWN CHEONG NĪ DEKKERSREIHANA
ARLO GREEN
DIONEDA
GETTING TO KNOW… DAWN CHEONG
You have to create over a dozen distinct characters for this show. What trusty tool in your toolbox do you return to when developing a new role?
I think it's important to read the script and the scenes carefully. Note all the facts and information that is on the page and then use your imagination to fill in the blanks for example; Does this person have an accent? What is the tone of their voice? What's their body like? Where do they rest their weight? You can slowly exaggerate or minimise anything you'd like from there. You can also add little details to help find things about your character like using props to help add physicality.
With no single narrative and no “main part”, this show is all about the ensemble. What is one quality of a strong ensemble, to you?
To be at the right level near a tipping point together. I find that's when the best listening happens and the best readiness for anticipation happens.
What stage of getting to grips with climate change are you at? Denial, Solutions, Grief or Hope?
I think I am in denial. Hahahaha.
Listen to Arlo Green and Dawn Cheong on 95bFM Scenes from the Climate Era with Arlo Green and Dawn Cheong: July 26th, 2024 | 95bFM
Scenes from the Climate Era rehearsals.
Photo: David St George
GETTING TO KNOW… AMANDA TITO
You have to create over a dozen distinct characters for this show. What trusty tool in your toolbox do you return to when developing a new role?
The tool that is hands down the most useful is the text itself. For me, combing through the text of any play is fundamental. There are so many clues hidden throughout a piece of writing as to who a character is. Applying text work to a multi character piece is vital to make sure you differentiate all the characters you play in not only the obvious ways but nuanced as well.
Looking at how a character uses words can illuminate a person’s personality or quirks and offer up ideas for how to accentuate those uniquenesses. For example one of my character’s lines is “One by one they all passed away.” What struck me was that the character uses “passed away” instead of saying something harsher or more scientific to make their point. That to me is an important distinction for this character given their context. Text inspires ideas about who this person is in the world and what makes them unique in how they talk, feel and walk through life.
On top of script work, another great tool is observing people in the world and stealing little tidbits from them. The way somebody reads or crinkles their nose might be interesting and so I might lock that away to try one day. The more you see or meet the more ideas you get to play with and playing is key.
With no single narrative and no “main part”, this show is all about the ensemble. What is one quality of a strong ensemble, to you? An important component of any ensemble work is trust, and to have trust you need understanding. Understanding the people you are working with means getting to know them. Knowing the wants and needs of the ensemble in regards to the work will help you know what you need to do to support them creatively. Remaining engaged when you are not directly involved in a scene. When your fellow actors sense you are still engaged when you are not on the floor but observing creates a supported space. The more you support and trust, the more creative boundaries are pushed and voices and ideas heard.
What stage of getting to grips with climate change are you at? Denial, Solutions, Grief or Hope?
This is a difficult question, I am at the stage where I seek more knowledge. In general I am mad at how as a people we have disengaged with the earth and treat it so horribly for the sake of a buck (of course I am generalising all humans here but I’m sure you know what I mean). I want the knowledge of those that came before us to play a bigger role in how we treat the world and by before us I mean People that worked as one with the earth and not as its superior. We knew better once we can and should learn again.
Education Activities Exploring writing in the Climate Era
Theatre’s ability to heal, educate, entertain and transform Titiro whakamuri, kōkiri whakamua – Drama is influenced by whakapapa and is a way to respond to and share identity, culture, and perspectives
David Finnigan, Scenes from the Climate Era’s Australian playwright, has worked closely with director Jason Te Kare to bring this performance into the Aotearoa New Zealand context, specifically weaving in Mātauranga Māori.
An aspect of the significant learning done at Level One of NCEA is to “contribute to theatre Aotearoa and understand that drama is a way to explore and reflect on whakapapa.” You may be doing this through exploring plays written by Aotearoa playwrights in class, performing scenes from those plays,
discussing the function of each play and how they connect with an audience. Whether you are a Year 11 student or in a younger or older year level, this section of the pack aims to extend your understanding of theatre and its function. It will also prompt you to think about how what you see at the theatre can connect with work you are doing in class. While the activities below cannot be directly used to support Achievement Standard 1.1 - Explore the function of theatre Aotearoa, you can think about how this play has been adapted for an Aotearoa New Zealand context.
Thinking about Scenes from the Climate Era for an Aotearoa New Zealand cast and audience: Before delving into exploring the function of the performance of this play, it is important to recognise that this play was written by an Australian playwright who views his work as something that can shift and adapt to the context in which it is performed. If you haven’t done the pre-pack activities, especially “Activity Three: Pre reading/ listening”, then we encourage you to do those.
Activity: As a class brainstorm all the ways that the performance felt like it was set in Aotearoa and spoke to a local audience. Include the following examples in your brainstorm:
• Language or quotes that feel specific to Aotearoa
• Te Ao Māori/Mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) elements or references
• Accents, acting style
• Specific design choices that reflected our place in the world
• Key scenes or viewpoints represented that reflected Aotearoa
Take a photo of this brainstorm and keep it in a shared digital space so you can reference it throughout the other activities in this pack.
Function in this section refers to: the plays ability to heal, educate, entertain or transform an audience. In small groups or in pairs, brainstorm, research and record responses to the following questions. (A mode of recording has been suggested for each question in order to enrich your literacy skills):
The function of Scenes from the Climate Era: Brainstorm with pen and paper. Ensure you explore and debate the four words encompassed in the definition of function and then construct a written response that focuses on a specific scene.
• What ideas, themes or messages are being communicated to the audience?
• What impact is that having on the audience?
• How are these ideas healing, educating, entertaining or transforming the audience?
• Can you connect this to a specific scene or moment from the performance?
• How has the script been adapted for an Aotearoa New Zealand context? Give specific examples from the performance.
Connection with the audience: Record a verbal discussion where you talk about the following questions. You could brainstorm the questions first, but it is important you don’t script your response.
• Who do you think the intended audience is and why? Who do you think David Finnigan wrote this for and why?
• What influence has Jason Te Kare had on this rendition of the play? How do you think this connects with the audience?
• How has Mātauranga Māori been woven through the performance? What impact does this have on the connection the audience has with the story being told?
• What draws you into the story? The actors, the design, the writing, the themes and ideas? Discuss why.
• What were you feeling throughout the performance?
• What have you thought about since?
You could use the following resource to support you: Purpose and Audience Analysis
Communicating function through drama techniques: these activities are based around developing the skill of sketching and annotation. You can cover one, some or all of the activities.
• Characters connection to the Climate Era: Look at the characters or viewpoints of people represented in the scenes and explore their connection to the thematic content of the performance. Use these questions and the information in the front of this pack to guide you. Create a diagram that represents each character's stance or viewpoint, and explore why this is important when discussing this topical issue. You could choose a couple of scenes to focus on.
• What do you know about the characters or what do the viewpoints outlined say about the people represented in the scenes - ethnicity, where they are from, their whānau, their upbringing - how does this influence the way they view climate change?
• What are their dreams and aspirations?
• What is motivating or driving them? Why do you think they behave the way they do around the core issues of the play?
• What are key quotes that capture the personality, beliefs and aspirations of the characters? How does this impact how they view climate change?
• What are their relationships like and what does this say about the way they act on the issues and themes evident in the play?
• Role on the Wall: Choose a character or viewpoint you found compelling or impactful. In a Role on the Wall explore how the actor used techniques to support the function of the play. Narrow this down to a single moment.
Role on the Wall instructions:
• Draw the outline of your character - could be a gingerbread man shape, stick figure, etc.
• On the outside you will note the external drama techniques you see the actor using in a specific moment, that communicate the function. Use of body, voice, movement and space
• On the inside you will think about or imagine what might be driving these choices; emotions, motivations, subtext.
• Mindmapping: Looking at the drama elements, choose one that you felt was highlighted in a moment in the performance that communicated the function. Create an extensive mind map which details how that element was brought to life through the script, the characters, directorial and design choices.
• For example; what does setting the performance in Aotearoa New Zealand communicate to the audience?
• For example; how is Mātauranga Māori explicitly woven into this performance of the play and what impact does it have on the audience? How does this support the communication of the core messages of the play?
• Storyboarding: Choose a moment where a specific drama convention highlights the function. Map out on a short storyboard with captions, how the convention was used, detailing what you saw on stage and what it communicated to the audience.
• Sketching and annotating: Choose a moment where technology was used to highlight the function. Sketch how this looked on stage and annotate comprehensively.
Bringing ideas to life through play: these ideas could contribute towards or become provocations/stimulus for devised drama.
• Choose a line from Scenes from the Climate Era that you found compelling or impactful. Discuss why as a group.
• Break down the line, think about what it means and what it represents in the play, how it might heal, educate, entertain or transform. What does it make you think about and feel? Does it call you to action?
• Develop a short scene that explores what you have discussed using conventions and elements.
• Prior to performance explain how your short scene connects to the line you have chosen and how it heals, educates, entertains or transforms.
• Make sure that you choose conventions and elements that will communicate your ideas in a coherent way.
• Choose a moment in the performance where you could add more information about a character or an event. This could be prior to the play beginning, during the narrative or what happened next.
• Develop a short scene using conventions and elements
• Discuss together how this scene extends on ideas in the play
• Prior to performance explain how your short scene heals, educates, entertains or transforms the audience. Discuss how you have used conventions and elements to communicate this.
Perform a scene: (If you have access to the full script from the play)
• Choose a scene that you felt highlighted the function of the play
• Block and rehearse the scene for an audience
• As you rehearse make choices about your techniques as an actor that will communicate the function of the scene to your audience
• Think about how elements can be enhanced and what conventions could be used in the blocking
• If you could use technology, what would it be? If you have access to it, have a play. If you don’t then express a few ideas to the audience prior to performing
• Perform your scene for your peers and gain feedback
• Justify your choices to the audience and explain what you intended to communicate
• Discuss whether your intention for the performance was communicated and understood. Gain feedback and advice
Exploring the Director’s and Designers’ Concept
"The play acknowledges its own theatricality”
For these activities you will need to refer to page 24 - “Direction and Design: Minimalist & Meta.”
When reading through the conversation between Jason Te Kare and the different designers on Scenes from the Climate Era, it is clear that the team was going for impact, cohesive design and transition speed to represent an environment on stage that asks the audience to think deeply about the questions being posed and the wider narrative being built. The interview between Te Kare and the designers earlier in the pack
can help you in two ways; it is packed full of quotes that unpack how they conceptualised the performance and also provide inspiration for making your own dramatic work in class that incorporates design for a specific purpose. Both activities outlined below will support both revision and creative work in the classroom. An extension activity has also been included in this section to allow you to explore how theatre form has been utilised in the production, which may provide excellent wider context in both a report and exam setting.
Close-reading activity: Drama is a rich source of literacy. This activity is based around linking the director and designers words to physical examples of design that you saw in the performance as an audience member.
• Split into small groups and choose a scene where the design elements worked in conjunctionespecially sound and lighting.
• Brainstorm all of the design elements evident in the scene; use specific language and terminology.
• Read the interview above and do the following:
• Circle ideas that are compelling or interesting that connect to the scene you picked
• Highlight quotes that are relevant to the particular scene you are discussing
• Underline ideas that may not be relevant but you find compelling or punchy
• As a group construct a plan or essay outline for the following prompt using the information that you have gathered using the tools above. Keep it short: “How was design used to bring the director's concept to life in a specific moment in the performance?”
• For homework: Using the plan you have constructed as a group, write your own essay in response to the prompt. Share it with a peer from your group and reflect on what you did well and how you could improve your writing.
Design for a purpose: In class you will be exploring different ways to create drama to communicate meaning to an audience. The use of design and technology can support this and can be focussed on a specific message you want the audience to understand.
• Split into small groups of 3 - 5
• Choose a viewpoint communicated in the performance that you found challenging or interesting as your provocation or topic for performance.
• Brainstorm a key message from this provocation, make it a punchy one liner.
• Devise and develop a scene for performance using drama conventions and elementsespecially the conventions used in Scenes from the Climate Era such as breaking the fourth wall, etc.
• Brainstorm how you could use sound and one other technology together to create impact and enhance the key message of your scene. Take inspiration from the interview above and the performance you saw (You could find sound effects or music on Spotify or YouTube, you could create sound with your voices or bodies, you could have someone performing sound off stage - be creative).
• Before performing, explain to the audience what your design concept/intention was and what your key message is.
• After the performance, ask the audience to reflect on whether your use of technology enhanced the message you wanted to communicate. Discuss what you could do to improve the scene.
Extension Activity: Connection to Theatre Form: Metatheatre and Brecht’s Epic Theatre have been identified as theatre forms that Jason Te Kare has drawn on throughout the process of bringing Scenes from the Climate Era to the stage. These may be entirely new theatre forms to you or you may have studied some of the features that define the form before. Use the activities below to expand your knowledge and also explore the wider context of the production. (These activities could also contribute towards learning for your theatre form internal or external standards at Level 2 and 3.)
Research: You could do this activity as a whole class or in small groups.
• Choose a theatre form from the two identified to discuss.
• Research the theatre form, with the support of your teacher, using the links provided above or from the short list below. Your teacher may also have useful information already.
• Create a features chart of features you saw used in Scenes from the Climate Era from that form. Use the template below as a guide:
Feature Description/ definition of feature
Moment where the feature was used in Scenes from the Climate Era What meaning or message did this communicate?
• Discuss the following prompt: “How did the use of this theatre form enhance the way this story was told?” - You could choose to present your thoughts in writing, verbally, as a comprehensive brainstorm or use it as a prompt for a class circle discussion.
• Reflection for homework: What did you learn about this theatre form and how might it enrich your report or exam answers? Make note of quotes or statements that support.
Extension question for the whole class:
“Have theatre forms such as Epic Theatre and Metatheatre become the norm in staging contemporary performance work - discuss”
Possible source list for metatheatre: What Is Metatheatre? Infographic And 5 Authoritative Explanations | The Drama Teacher Metatheatre
The Concept of Metatheatre: A Functional Approach Understanding Metatheatre
Possible source list for Epic Theatre:
An introduction to Brechtian theatre
Epic theatre and Brecht - GCSE Drama Revision - WJEC - BBC Bitesize Epic theatre | Definition, Elements, Examples, & Facts | Britannica
Exploring Wider Context and Scenes from the Climate Era
For these activities you will need to refer to page 30 - “Working with Dr Dan Hikuroa.”
Dr Dan Hikuroa has been an instrumental part of adapting this play for an Aotearoa New Zealand Audience. In the interview above you can see how his observations in rehearsals allowed the actors to shift focus or provided them with different motivations in scenes. Delving into the way Dr Hikuroa has worked with the creative team behind Scenes From A Climate Era to bring this from page to stage will enrich your learning, report writing and exam answers.
REFLECTING ON DR HIKUROA’S INFLUENCE ON THE KAUPAPA
Using the information from the rehearsal room and the notes in this education pack, do this activity to reflect on how having someone like Dr Hikuroa in the production and rehearsal space enriches the process and also the performance that you watched as an audience member.
Close reading activity: In pairs read through the “Working with Dr
Dan Hikuroa” section of the pack. Complete the following:
• Underline ideas that interest you
• Highlight quotes that you think will be useful as wider context
• Circle ideas that you think would be good to have a class discussion around
On brainstorm paper write down all the ideas that interested you from both sections of the pack and discuss:
• How this was realised in performance - you may want to add sketches, with annotations and other details
• The use of technology and how this enhanced the key messages around climate change
• Where you saw Mātauranga Māori woven into the performance
• What you thought or felt during the performance about the viewpoints being presented and how that might have changed after reading this information
Share your collated thoughts back with the class and add ideas to your own brainstorm that other groups present. You will want to photograph this brainstorm and save in a shared
space where you can reference the information for revision or as you construct your report.
Extension: Share the ideas you have circled with your teacher and have a class discussion. You could think about what challenged you, what you would like to know more about and how you could explore these ideas through dramatic play - such as improvisation, devising, script work, or by playing with performance conventions.
Build a glossary of quotes: It is important to include quotes directly from the creatives who took Scenes from the Climate Era from page to stage, when you are constructing exam answers or your report, as this supports a deeper understanding of why this is important work to watch at this point in time. From the quotes your have highlighted in the ‘Close Reading Activity’ above:
• Create a glossary of quotes that you think might be useful
• Make notes about how the quote connected to the performance you saw
• Add sketches and annotations of what you saw on stage
Actors motivations: Looking at the “Scenes from a Climate Rehearsal” discuss the following prompt in pairs and then present the information back to the class in a creative wayin role, as a short devised piece, as a presentation.
Prompt: “How did Dr Hikuroa’s feedback during the rehearsal process impact the way an actor approached a scene? Why was his voice integral to character development?”
Devise from one of the following prompts: In small groups use the following prompts to devise a short scene. You may like to split the class into five and cover all of the prompts outlined and then discuss. Make sure that your devised performance includes at least two of the following:
• Features from Greek Theatre
• Breaking the fourth wall
• Stylistic movement - chorus, flocking, mirroring, slow motion
• Realistic dialogue
• A gesture, line of dialogue or motif drawn from the professional performance of Scenes from the Climate Era.
Prompts:
• “Be a good ancestor. The future is ancestral - indigenous ways are far more likely to work to get us out of this.”
• We are part of the environment and not apart from the environment
• The power of the consumer - an enormous vehicle for change.
• What is your agency?
• Tāonga: explore the verb - what do you treasure about the environment?
Exploring Characterisation in Scenes from the Climate Era
For these activities you will need to refer to page 40 - “Meet the Cast” and “Getting to Know…”
It has been outlined and you would have noticed as a member of the audience, that instead of characters following a linear narrative arc, you are presented with a range of scenes that unpack a range of viewpoints. Therefore the actors are creating many roles, and are thinking more about the messages or view they want to get across in the context of the scene. These activities will allow you to unpack what was expressed by the actors throughout the performance and also reflect on the wairua of the performance.
THINKING ABOUT THE VIEWPOINTS PRESENTED IN SCENES FROM THE CLIMATE ERA:
As a class look at the list of scenes outlined at the start of the pack. Divvy them up so that small groups of 3 - 5 students will look at a number of scenes each. You could categorise them by theme or key message or approach it more randomly.
Activity:
• Using each scene as a heading, note down the main argument or viewpoint of the scene
• Outline what each actor was representing in that scene, along with a key quote
• Choose one actor from each scene that you found the most compelling or made the strongest argument and unpack how they used their body, voice, movement and space to express that physically
• Alongside how the actor has used their body, voice, movement and space, outline what you think is motivating that character in that scene
• Put these notes in a shared space, so that the entire class has access to the breakdown of acting
Practical extension: Ask yourselves the question - “What stage of getting to grips with climate change are you at? Denial, Solutions, Grief or Hope?” and create a devised performance based around the different viewpoints expressed in your group. Use the following in preparation for performance:
• Look at the notes you have made about acting, key messages and motivations that you have made in the previous activity and make explicit reference to this in your own performance
• Break the fourth wall in your performance
• Have a strong beginning and ending to your scene
• Ensure that your viewpoint is clear and you are realistically expressing this through your use of body, voice, movement and space
• Use chorus of voice at some point
• Come up with a strong gesture or stance that represents your individual point of view
Perform these scenes for your peers and gain feedback. Ask each other; how clearly did I portray my point of view? Did I use body, voice, movement and space creatively? What could I do to extend or expand my use of techniques to get my point across?
EXPLORING THE WAIRUA OF SCENES FROM THE CLIMATE ERA:
“The wairua of the performance is experienced as the intangible energetic and emotive qualities that carry the spirit and intention of the play. How the wairua is expressed by the performers provokes a response from the audience and allows them to reflect on the ideas and themes of the play based on their own life experiences and perspectives”Drama 1.4 - Unpacking
As a class: Discuss what you think the spirit and intention was of the play, brainstorm on the whiteboard and annotate how this was expressed by the creative team, including the actors, with key quotes, characters and moments from the performance.
Individually: Reflect on the following and jot down your ideas during 10 mins of individual time in class or for homework. (Note the following definitions are from Drama 1.4Unpacking)
• Ihi - how the performers expressed their work
• Wehi - your personal reaction to how the performers expressed their work
• Wana - how this reciprocal interaction between performers, you as an individual and the audience as a whole, shaped the performance
In small groups: Share the ideas you jotted down during your individual time with the group. Listen to and unpack how each individual in the group felt about the performance and what they took away from it.
Talk about your different memories of the feeling of being in the audience. You could use these prompts to help you:
• What did you think about at the time?
• What made you sit up and physically react in the performance - particular lines, moments, viewpoints?
• What has the performance made you think about since?
• What did you feel at the time and what are you feeling now?
Collate your thoughts and share them back to the class as a short performance based around your individual responses to the performance using the following guidelines:
• Play yourself reacting to a moment in the performance, use Spoken Thought
• Use an interesting formation
• Use Chorus of Voice and Movement to show a collective audience reaction to a moment in the play
• Keep it short and punchy
Scenes from the Climate Era and Level One NCEA
“Drama transforms the tangible into the intangible.”
This section of the education pack is designed to support Level One drama students navigate the new Level One external Achievement Standard 91943 - Respond to a drama performance. Unlike like the Level Two and Three external standards, which are an exam, you will be constructing a report, over a period of time in class and it will be based around three key aspects;
• key message of the performance, the use of drama components and your own personal response to the performance, capturing the wairua (spirit) of what you watched.
This report can either be verbal or written, or a mixture of boththe main question you should ask yourself as a student is; how do I communicate my ideas, thoughts, and feelings about what I saw, the best? With that in mind, you are encouraged to collect your thoughts, discussions and do your research in a range of formats. Such as; voice notes, sketches and annotations, brainstorms, moodboards, recorded physical responses and writing.
Below are three activities to support you to expand your ideas and support you during the teaching and learning phase of unpacking the performance.
KEY MESSAGE:
In pairs, small groups or as a whole class, discuss and brainstorm the following prompts:
• What do you think the playwright was trying to say? Why this story? Why these characters? Why this period of time?
• What do you think the director was trying to communicate through the choices they made? How does this connect with what the playwright has written?
• What do the characters in the performance represent and what do they communicate to the audience?
• What do you think the designers are trying to communicate through their choices? How does this bring the playwright's ideas to life?
Once you have brainstormed around these questions, you could journal, voice note or record thoughts around the following questions:
• How do you identify the key message of a performance?
• Can there be multiple key messages?
• Think about your interpretation of the performance - what was the key message to you?
• What physical evidence from the performance connects to the key message? This could be a scene, a moment between characters, dialogue, a moment where the use of technology highlighted an idea.
• Describe these examples and sketch them in specific detail.
USE OF DRAMA COMPONENTS:
Drama components are techniques, elements, conventions and technologies. Make sure you have explored this language and terminology with your teacher. Now that you have fleshed out what the key message might be, you need to connect it with the choices that the director, designer and actors have made and how they have used the drama components in combination.
Brainstorm in small groups, or in pairs:
• How an actor used drama techniques in a moment that communicated the key message
• How elements created a sense of mood, atmosphere or tension
• How conventions were used throughout the performance
• How technology enhanced the story being told
WAIRUA OF PERFORMANCE AND PERSONAL RESPONSE:
In the unpacking on the NCEA website for this standard, this aspect of the assessment is unpacked in detail. Your teacher will support you in understanding this and guide you to explore, research and develop your ideas
“The wairua of the performance is experienced as the intangible energetic and emotive qualities that carry the spirit and intention of the play. How the wairua is expressed by the performers provokes a response from the audience and allows them to reflect on the ideas and themes of the play based on their own life experiences and perspectives”Drama 1.4 - Unpacking
• What thoughts, ideas and feelings did the performers provoke in you?
• What have you reflected upon since watching the performance?
• What have you been thinking about (head) and feeling (heart) since?
• What did your gut/sense of intuition communicate to you as you watched the performance?
• What life experiences or perspectives do you bring? What connections did you make?
REFERENCES
Drama | NCEA
Level One External Specifications
Scenes from the Climate Era and Level Two and Three Revision Questions
If you are a Year 12 and 13 student who attended the production of Scenes from the Climate Era you will likely have had your Live Performance exam in mind as you watched the performance. You are encouraged to look at the questions written for Year 11/ Level One students in the previous section and the activities throughout the pack, especially references to Theatre Aotearoa. Having discussions around theatre’s ability to heal, educate, entertain and/or transform can deepen or widen your point of view. With this in mind, the questions below will support you to revise for your exam at the end of the year but will also enrich your thoughts, feelings and ideas about the performance of Scenes from the Climate Era and may expand your own work that you develop in the classroom. You are encouraged to explore the questions both individually and with your peers.
Note: When answering the following question you will want to find and provide physical examples from the production. A physical example is when you describe, with specificity, what is happening on stage at the time. Get down to specific detail, for example, explaining how the actor/ performer is standing or moving, how far away from the audience they are, what is happening with technology, where exactly they are in space, etc. The more detail, the better!
DRAMA TECHNIQUES: BODY, VOICE, MOVEMENT AND SPACE:
• Describe how an actor who you found interesting or compelling used drama techniques in a specific moment in the performance.
• Describe how two actors used proximity during a moment of tension.
• Discuss how an actor uses drama techniques during a solo moment on stage. What were they aiming to communicate? What did you understand at that moment?
• Explain another actor’s use of drama techniques and how they created a sense of authenticity within the performance.
• Choose specific moments where you felt the actor used their body, voice, movement, and space in combination to create impact, focus, or to support an important idea.
• Discuss why you think authenticity is important in a contemporary performance
• Thinking about the actors and the way they created their characters:
• How did they use techniques to create a sense of time and place?
• How did they use techniques to communicate their history?
• How did an actor use drama techniques to communicate subtext in their performance? Use a specific moment and example to discuss this use of subtext.
• Discuss what you found compelling about an actor’s use of drama techniques in the performance. Choose a specific moment to focus on.
CHARACTER:
• Discuss what the character communicated to the audience; how did the actor portray them? Plot their character arc and describe how he uses techniques to communicate this.
• Discuss the purpose of the characters:
• What impact do they have on the narrative, as well as the audience and actors' relationship?
• How does the actor's use of techniques communicate their purpose in the performance?
• Explore the ensemble of characters as a whole: what purpose do they serve in the narrative?
DIRECTOR/DESIGNER CONCEPT:
• Discuss how technology or design was used during a climatic moment in the performance? What do you think was at stake within the scene?
• Discuss the purpose of the performance and how the themes or ideas link to what is happening in the world; socially, politically or historically. Link your ideas to specific moments or examples from the performance.
• How did the way the performance was realised impact the style of delivery of the narrative/story?
• How does the content of the play challenge and serve the audience?
• Discuss how the director brought the story to life using Drama Components - Elements, Conventions, Techniques and Technologies.
• What do you think Jason Te Kare is asking you to think about in the way he has directed Scenes from the Climate Era?
• How did the acting and staging choices affect you as an audience member?
• How was Mātauranga Māori woven into the way the play was performed?
• How was Mātauranga Māori woven into the design elements of the performance?
• What was the impact of the way the design, directorial, and acting choices worked together? Choose a moment that surprised, shocked, or excited you to talk about.
• Discuss why the use of sound and lighting design was integral to this performance? Focus on the mood created by sound choices, use of colour and the shapes created by the angles or composition of lighting.
DRAMA CONVENTIONSSTRATEGIES ESTABLISHED TO MAKE MEANING AND CONNECT TO WIDER CONTEXT:
(NB - make sure you are familiar with what the established Drama Conventions are by discussing this with your teacher)
• Identify a moment in the performance where Drama Conventions were used to create focus, mood or atmosphere:
• Explain how the convention or combination of conventions were used in the performance
• Discuss the impact of the use of the convention or combination of conventions in this moment
• Discuss how meaning was created for you, as an audience member, in this moment
• Discuss how the use of a convention or combination of conventions in a specific moment helped you think about the big ideas and themes of the play.
• What was the wider context (socially, historically, politically or geographically) that this moment linked to?
DRAMA ELEMENTS AND HOW THEY DRAW OUR ATTENTION TO THEMES, MOTIFS AND SYMBOLS:
• What were the main themes, questions and ideas evident in the performance? Link these themes, questions and ideas to specific moments or examples from the performance.
• How were design and directorial elements (props, setting, AV, costuming, audience positioning and interaction) and the Drama Elements used to build the performance? How did this make you feel as a member of the audience?
• Identify recurring symbols or motifs throughout the performance. Explain why they were important in helping you understand ideas being communicated in Scenes from the Climate Era?
• How do these themes, symbols or ideas link to the wider world of the play and what impact does this have on the audience?
• Were there moments where the content was confronting or forced you to think about something in a new light? What impact does this have on the audience and you as a member of the audience?
• Reference the wider reading from Dr Dan Hikuroa, as well
as linked media articles and think about the impact this condition has on the lives and arcs of the characters in the play.
TECHNOLOGY: LINK YOUR IDEAS TO SPECIFIC MOMENTS OR EXAMPLES IN THE PERFORMANCE.
Think about lighting, set, sound, props, costumes, make-up and how this helped bring you into the world of the play.
• How was technology used to create the atmosphere in the performance?
• How was technology used to highlight important ideas, themes and symbols in the performance?
• How was contrast and/or focus created or built through technology and why was this important?
• How did the use of technology help you gain a deeper understanding of the themes of Scenes from the Climate Era?
• How did technology highlight the different viewpoints expressed within the performance?
• Discuss why this was impactful, exciting or challenged your expectations.
• How were costumes used to communicate the characters' purpose in the performance?
IMPORTANT NOTE:
When you are writing about Set or Costume, you need to be specific about the following details and also sketch what you see. Imagine the person you are writing for has not seen the production and create a vivid image in their mind of what you saw:
• For example: Set/Props
• The size, shape and dimensions of any set pieces or props used
• The materials used, their textures and the colours
Upcoming School Matinees at Auckland Theatre Company and Silo Theatre
A Slow Burlesque
created
and performed
by Freya Silas Finch
BASEMENT THEATRE
3 – 19 OCT
From the mind of one of the most exciting young artists in Aotearoa, Freya Silas Finch, comes a story a lifetime in the making. It’s a story about transformation, about dressing up; about becoming nothing and about becoming everything.
School Matinee: 11AM, Tue 15 Oct, 2024
Public Performances: 23 September – 12 October, 2024
INFO
For more information and bookings, please contact Silo Theatre Programme Manager Nahyeon Lee at admin@ silotheatre.co.nz
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Peter Pan by Carl Bland, adapted from the story by J.M. Barrie
ASB WATERFRONT THEATRE 8 – 27 OCT
Some stories never grow old. This is one of them.
A collaboration between Auckland Theatre Company and Nightsong.
Schools Matinee: 11AM, Wed 23 Oct and Fri 25 Oct, 2024
INFO
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