YOUNG PEOPLE ON CLIMATE CHANGE

A talented group of young people from Byron Youth Theatre  presented “How on Earth” in Grafton and Maclean at the end of March as part of this year’s Clarence Valley Plunge Festival. 

At a time when young people are becoming increasingly concerned about their future and the future of the planet, the “How on Earth” cast took audiences on an intriguing journey, exploring two different realities in the near future, asking what could be possible and how on earth we could create it.

This unusual event came to the Clarence through a partnership between the Byron Youth Theatre and the Maclean based community group Friends of Foresthaven’s Joyality Project.   Joyality’s Director Dr Eshana Bragg said they were happy to be part of this year’s Plunge Festival and were grateful for a NSW Government “Increasing Resilience to Climate Change” community grant as well as support from Clarence Valley Council and local community organisations.

As part of their research and development for the play, the Byron Youth Theatre cast members conducted interviews with other young people locally and nationally about their concerns about the environment, climate change and COVID 19.

Director Lisa Apostolides then wove their responses into a production that offers hope in a time of uncertainty and change.

“Young people have deep concerns about their future and rightly so,” Ms Apolstolides said.  “We may not have all the answers but we can choose how we respond to our changing world.”

The theatre presentations on  were followed  by an interactive and uplifting workshop to explore the meaning taken away from the performance , as well as discovering inspiration for positive action and building  resilience.

As well as the public performances in Grafton (March 28) and Maclean (March 30), there were performances and workshops in several local high schools.

Earlier presentations of “How on Earth” have been praised as inspirational and an authentic voice of youth dealing with an issue of obvious importance to them. 

Scene from  the theatre performance