How do stage storytellers tell the story of the changing climate? That’s what four emerging Calgary playwrights are trying to explore in Dreaming Climate Consciousness, a quartet of short plays presented by Downstage that are receiving staged readings Friday and Saturday night at Motel in Werklund Centre. The independent theatre company is partnering with the Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation on a two-month long workshop project that pairs newcomer artists with established local artists to see what they can come up with. Playwrights Cristhian Poblete Hernández, Miranda Martini, Camille Pavlenko, and Ashay Vaidya are working with program coordinator Evan Medd and directors Clare Preuss and Javier Vilalta on the project. It’s Downstage’s third climate-themed project of the past few years, after Climate Change Theatre Action in 2021 and 2023’s All Good Things Must Begin. For Dreaming Climate Consciousness, Medd turned to speculative fiction as a storytelling template -- sort of the same way Tom Cruise did in Digger, the wildest swing at exploring climate change that Hollywood has taken in years. Medd said there’s a nice fit between sci-fi and activism. “In her book Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown helped me understand how closely science fiction and activism are related in their fundamental purpose. Both begin by imagining a world that doesn’t yet exist, and then ask: what would it take to make that world real? “Science fiction explores that question through art, literature, and imaginative possibility, while activism works toward it through collective organizing and direct action. Both are forward-looking practices rooted in the belief that the future isn’t simply something that happens to us; it’s something we participate in creating. “It’s long past time to move beyond the idea that science fiction and speculative fiction are primarily escapist genres, even though they can certainly be that, too. They are also incredibly valuable tools for grappling with the futures we’re afraid of and imagining the futures we hope to inhabit. “Climate change presents us with consequences that can be difficult to comprehend, let alone communicate, because so much of what we’re facing exists beyond the limits of our everyday experience. Speculative fiction allows us to make those possibilities tangible, to explore how they might shape our relationships, communities, and ways of living, and to ask what choices might lead us somewhere different.” For Downstage artistic director Clare Preuss, the payoff has been in the process, watching emerging playwrights turn the difficult news of climate change into imaginary landscapes. “Having playwrights come together who have experienced climate change from various locations and under various circumstances is illuminating and allows for a nuance of storytelling that can be filled with different world views. “What I love about this project is that the whole first month of the process is centred around collective world building led by Evan (who’s a real specialist in this process) and manifested by the four playwrights,” Preuss said. “This sci-fi world and the characters within it are fodder for the four short plays. The world building process focuses a lot on our collective hopes, while allowing a bit of room for our concerns. Preuss, who’s directing two shows with Vilalta directing the other two, said the playwrights were writing right up until this week, when the directors and actors will put their scripts up on their feet. “We will be integrating sound design by Greg Wilson and lighting design by Adam Kostiuk as we go. It will be an energized week filled with discovery. Audiences will get a chance to dive into this raw and ready sharing with us next weekend. I love this kind of work that brings process to the forefront - it’s what Downstage’s whole 2026-27 is focused on - the deep humanity of theatre creation. So fresh! Such fun!” And what about Digger, the new climate change comedy from five-time Oscar winning director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who has said he launched the script for Digger after his experience making The Revenant which was famously shot in Kananaskis Country during a year when there was no snow, forcing the production to go down to Argentina. Digger opened to some scathing reviews and was pronounced an instant box office bomb, but has bounced back, being called a masterpiece in one New York Times column and receiving endorsements from a variety of Hollywood A-listers, even though the headline of the Times review was “Even Tom Cruise can’t save this strained satire.” “I saw Digger in IMAX and loved it from start to finish.” Preuss said. “I laughed so much and cried a little. It’s one of the most satisfying experiences I’ve ever had in a movie theatre.” For more information about Downstage, go here.
