Some years ago, as I was becoming acutely aware of the challenges posed by climate change, I asked myself what, if anything, a playwright could do to address this issue. The most obvious answer was to write a play about it. But somehow, that idea lacked in scope. How could a single play capture the complexity of this global problem? I searched for a more ambitious idea and eventually came up with: “Write eight plays that look at the massive social and ecological transitions taking place in the eight countries of the Arctic.” And so The Arctic Cycle was born.

Research for Sila, the first play of the Cycle, began in 2009 with a trip to Baffin Island in the territory of Nunavut. Sila examines the competing interests shaping the future of the Canadian Arctic and local Inuit population. It strives to consider all sides without casting blame, and to highlight how we – human and non-human – are all interconnected. Equal parts Inuit mythology and contemporary Arctic policy, the play uses puppetry, spoken word poetry and three different languages (English, French and Inuktitut). Sila received its world premiere at Underground Railway Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 24, 2014. The production included an extensive series of pre- and post-show conversations with scientists, activists, and local indigenous organizations, giving audiences the opportunity to explore more deeply some of the themes presented in the play. The next production will take place this summer at Cyrano’s Theatre in Alaska.

Forward, the second play of the Cycle, was inspired by a ten-day sailing expedition around the Svalbard archipelago, located halfway between Norway and the North Pole, with the Arctic Circle program in 2011. It presents a poetic history of energy development in Norway from the initial passion that drove explorer Fridtjof Nansen to the North Pole, to the consequences of over a century of fossil fuel addiction. A blend of theatre and electropop music, the play progresses backwards from 2013 to 1893, and zeroes in on close to 40 characters whose day-to-day lives illustrate how the choices we make often have unintended consequences. Woven through this history is the passionate love affair between Nansen and the character Ice. Forward was developed in collaboration with Hålogaland Teater in Tromsø, Norway and was produced at Kansas State University in February 2016. It will be translated in Norwegian this summer and produced in Norway in 2017.

The remaining six plays will be written over the next decade and chronicle our evolving relationship with each other and the natural world. For each play, I will collaborate with an artist whose country is featured so there are at least two voices telling the story. For Sila, I approached an Inuit spoken word poet who graciously agreed to let me use two of her poems in the play. For Forward, I’m collaborating with a Norwegian electropop composer, who is writing music for Ice. (Ice only expresses herself through song.) In addition, I’m hoping each play will be developed in collaboration with the featured country and produced both in the U.S. and in that country. I believe this model of collaboration enriches the work and shows how we can come together to address global issues.

Theatre may not be the most direct way to address climate change but it is a means to tell personal stories audiences can connect to and be moved by. And connecting to something is one step towards taking action.