SBU’s third Science on Stage, an innovative collaboration between scientists and artists created by English Professor Ken Weitzman, focused on one of the most urgent and devastating threats to our planet and our very existence: climate change. The evening’s performances and the conversations that ensued beautifully highlighted how everyone fits in the narrative.
The event opened with an original composition by Professor of Music, Meg Schedel. Carnival of the Endangered Animals took deconstructed instruments to depict the calls of endangered animals. The sounds that filled the room gave voice to creatures that are rarely heard in the wild. Using Artificial Intelligence to map recordings of these endangered species onto instruments, this opening performance conjured the beauty, struggles, and perseverance of not only the animals portrayed in the music, but all creatures affected by climate change.
The three plays that followed balanced seriousness and humor. “Counterfactual” emphasized the importance of political differences, showing that no matter what your views are, we’re all affected by the same conditions, climate change being one of them. “Ghost Forest” personified natural disasters and brought necessary awareness to the growing presence of ghost forests, which are coastal forests killed by tectonic plate shifts or riptides. Lastly, “Resplendence” fused together memory and pain to evoke the longing for childhood, or at least, how things used to be. Following a family through generations, the play showcased how things continue to change, no matter how we battle with that fact; one can never go back to how things once were.
Whether you have had a personal experience with climate change or not, it is clear from Science on Stage that you inevitably will. Keeping these key issues at the forefront of all minds while also allowing each individual to integrate it into their own lives is important. Science on Stage brought the scary unknown into a format that all can take in and feel personally. From such understanding, we can only hope that the world may benefit.