NEW YORK (AP) — Former Eve Ensler playwright V says her new play can contribute to climate change in the same way that her “vagina monologue” contributed to women's rights. I want it.
“We live in very disconnected times right now,” she says. “What we all need to do is connect. Connect with the planet and connect with each other.”
She hopes to give audiences a roadmap with a one-night-only production of “Dear Everything,” in which actors and activists Jane Fonda and Rosario Dawson will address the audience. It will be performed at Manhattan's Terminal 5 on January 30th.
“'Dear Everything' is a powerful musical rebellion at a time when the earth is on fire due to global warming and man-made climate change,” Fonda said in an email.
The concert/musical hybrid features songs by Justin Tranter and Caroline Pennell, choreography by Christiana Hunt, and direction by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus.
V will play the narrator of the story with 10 singers and a youth choir. While the show does not spell out a single prescription for climate change, it hopes to inspire collective action.
“It's not necessarily about the politics of solutions; it's about the politics of connections,” says V. I think it really requires all of us to use our imaginations. Because that's the biggest thing we have to do to really find a way out of the situation we're in. ”
“Dear Everything” was previously performed at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University. At the time, the event was called “WILD,'' but its operations were suspended due to the pandemic.
“I was trying to find a way to create stories and make pop music that could really create an awakening in people. Instead of patting them on the head, they said, 'Listen to your kids.' It is. Listen to young people. They really have a vision of what's going to happen. Because they feel it in their bodies and they want life. ”
V hopes “Dear Everything” can be produced elsewhere. It's not expensive and doesn't require fancy sets or lighting. It's a bit like “The Vagina Monologues,” her series of sly, lyrical, and incisive first-person stories based on interviews with hundreds of women.
V represents Earth as a woman and sees her work against climate change as part of an overall fight to protect and honor women.
“We were on a mission to end violence against women, girls, transgender and non-binary people, and the planet, because it was all part of the same story,” she says. “I'm still going.”