Beyond Scientific Facts: Climate Change Crisis in Earthquakes in London

Yıl 2022, Cilt: 1 Sayı: 68, 120 - 126, 26.06.2022

Işıl Şahin Gülter

https://doi.org/10.5152/AUJFL.2022.931912

Cited By: 1

Öz

“Ecodramaturgy” interrogates the extent to which the overall values in relation to nature and culture binary can be reconsidered and conveyed to the public through theatre and performance arts. Placing ecological reciprocity at the center of its dramatic and thematic content, ecodramaturgy places great hope in theatrical performances, which have the potential to alter mindsets of nature-culture interactions and transform audience perceptions of ecological issues. These interactions have been remarkably evident in climate change theatre that emerges as the sub-genre of ecodramaturgy and employs climate change science on the stage. Drawing on the connection between climate change theatre and climate change science, this paper examines Mike Bartlett’s Earthquakes in London (2010), in which the playwright provides an opportunity for the audience to interact with the climate crisis beyond a scientific approach. In this regard, this paper indicates that climate change theatre, which appeals to the feelings through story and performance, can enable the audience to interact with ecological thinking in unique ways and encourage them to take action against the climate change crisis.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Climate Change Science, Climate Change Theatre, Contemporary British Drama, Earthquakes in London, Ecodramaturgy, Mike Bartlett, Nature/Culture Binary

Bilimsel Gerçeklerin Ötesinde: Earthquakes in London Adlı Tiyatro Oyununda İklim Değişikliği Krizi

Öz

“Ekodramaturji”, doğa ve kültür ikiliğine ilişkin genel değerlerin, tiyatro ve performans sanatları aracılığı ile ne ölçüde yeniden değerlendirilebileceğini ve halka aktarılabileceğini sorgular. Ekolojik karşılıklılığı, dramatik ve tematik içeriğinin merkezine yerleştiren ekodramaturji, doğa-kültür etkileşimleri zihniyetini değiştirme ve izleyicinin ekolojik sorunlara ilişkin algılarını dönüştürme potansiyeline sahip teatral performansları fazlasıyla umut vaat edici bulur. Bu etkileşimler, sahnede iklim değişikliği bilimini kullanan ve ekodramaturjinin bir alt dalı olarak ortaya çıkan iklim değişikliği tiyatrosunda dikkat çekici bir şekilde yer alır. İklim değişikliği tiyatrosu ve iklim değişikliği bilimi arasındaki ilişkiden yola çıkan bu makale, oyun yazarı Mike Bartlett’in izleyiciye iklim krizi ile bilimsel bir yaklaşımın ötesinde etkileşim kurma imkanı sunduğu Earthquakes in London (2010) oyununu inceler. Bu bağlamda, bu makale, anlatım ve performans yoluyla duygulara hitap eden iklim değişikliği tiyatrosunun, izleyicinin ekolojik düşünce ile özgün bir biçimde etkileşime girmesini sağlayabileceğini ve iklim değişikliği krizine karşı harekete geçmeleri için izleyiciyi cesaretlendirebileceğini belirtir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

İklim Değişikliği Bilimi, İklim Değişikliği Tiyatrosu, Çağdaş Britanya Tiyatrosu, Earthquakes in London, Ekodramaturji, Mike Bartlett, Doğa/Kültür İkiliği

Kaynakça

• Arons, Wendy. (2007). Introduction to Special Section on “Performance and Ecology”. Theatre Topics, 17/2, pp. 93-94.
• Arons, Wendy. (2010). “Beyond the Nature/Culture Divide: Challenges from Ecocriticism and Evolutionary Biology for Theater Historiography.” Henry Bial and Scott Magelssen (Ed.). Theater Historiography: Critical Interventions. (pp. 148-161). University of Michigan Press
• Arons, Wendy and Theresa May. (2012). Readings in Performance and Ecology. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Bartlett, Mike. (2010). Earthquakes in London. London: Methuen Drama.
• Billington, Michael. (2010). “Earthquakes in London.” The Guardian, August 5.
• Bottoms, Stephen. (2012). “Climate Change ‘Science’ on the London Stage”. WIREs Clim Change, 3, pp. 339-348.
• Bracke, Astrid. (2017). Climate Crisis and the 21st Century British Novel. London: Bloomsbury.
• Chaudri, Una. (1994). “‘There Must Be a Lot of Fish in That Lake”: Toward an Ecological Theater’”. Theater, 25/1, p. 23-31.
• Chaudhuri, Una and Shonni Enelow. (2014). Research Theatre, Climate Change, and the Ecocide Project. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Clark, Timothy. (2015). Ecocriticism on the Edge: The Anthropocene as a Threshold Concept. London: Bloomsbury, 2015.
• Crutzen, Paul J. and Eugene F. Stoermer. (2000). “The ‘Anthropocene.’” IGBP Newsletter, 41, p. 17-18.
• Johns-Putra, Adeline. (2016). “Climate Change in Literature and Literary Studies: From Cli-fi, Climate Change Theater and Ecopoetry to Ecocriticism and Climate Change Criticism.” WIREs Clim Change, 7/2, p. 266-282.
• Lavery, Carl and Clare Finburgh. (Eds). (2015). Rethinking the Theatre of the Absurd: Ecology, the Environment and the Greening of the Modern Stage. London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama.
• Love, Catherina. (2020). “From Facts to Feelings: The Development of Katie Mitchell’s Ecodramaturgy.” Contemporary Theatre Review, 30/2, pp. 226-235
• May, Theresa J. (2007). “Beyond Bambi: Toward a Dangerous Ecocriticism in Theatre Studies.” Theatre Topics, 17/2, p. 95-110.
• May, Theresa J. (2010). “Kneading Marie Clements’ Burning Vision.” Canadian Theatre Review, 144, pp. 5-12.
• Merchant, Carolyn. (1995). Earthcare: Women and the Environment. New York: Routledge.
• Morton, Timothy. (2010). The Ecological Thought. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Nixon, Rob. (2011). Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Priest, Susanna. (2016). Communicating Climate Change: The Path Forward. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Shepherd-Barr, Kirsten. (2006). Science on Stage: From Doctor Faustus to Copenhagen. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Shepherd-Barr, Kirsten. (2015). Theatre and Evolution from Ibsen to Beckett. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Sierz, Aleks. (2010). “Earthquakes in London, National Theatre.” The Arts Desk.com, August 4.
• Trexler, Adam. (2015). Anthropocene Fictions: The Novel in a Time of Climate Change. Charlottesville: University of Virginia.
• Woynarski, Lisa. (2020). Ecodramaturgies: Theatre, Performance, and Climate Change. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.