The Future Is Not Fixed

What might an equitable, sustainable, decarbonized, and just society look like? What if the concept of a Green New Deal—a policy platform to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also addressing interwoven societal problems like economic inequality and racial injustice—could become reality?

The fifty plays in this anthology were commissioned for Climate Change Theatre Action 2021, a global participatory theatre festival that brings communities together around climate justice and climate change issues. Fifty playwrights representing all inhabited continents, with a wide range of styles and perspectives, were commissioned to write a five-minute play under the theme "Envisioning a Global Green New Deal." These plays were then available to anyone interested in presenting an event in their community between September 18–December 19, 2021. Events could take different forms from intimate readings in classrooms to staged productions with extensive sets and props—and everything in between. In the past, venues have included parks, churches, schools, libraries, backyards, community centers, yoga studios, cafes, bars, street corners, and the foot of glaciers. Events have been seen by audiences as diverse as wastewater and water treatment workers in Montana; homeless youth in London; refugees in Denmark; kids in New York City, Iran, and Nigeria; faith communities in Washington State; unsuspecting passersby in Brazil, New Zealand, and the UK; and lots of university students in every corner of the world.