Scenes from the Climate Era

A mosaic of snapshots capturing how it feels to live through this historical planetary transformation.

At the turn of the 2020s, the climate movement abruptly shifted into a new phase.

Governments and businesses suddenly escalated their climate commitments, while fossil fuel lobbyists swapped out denial for greenwashing tactics.

New activist movements initiated a wave of direct action – property destruction, rent strikes and attacks on fossil fuel infrastructure.

In science journals and academic conferences, radical solutions were debated and tested which would have been unthinkable just a decade ago.

And everywhere, extreme weather and climate impacts hit harder and faster than expected. We’ve already hit major tipping points which have pushed us past a point of no return.

Through a series of 66 vignettes, Scenes from the Climate Era maps some of the strange and unfamiliar contours of this new world we find ourselves in.

‘This is theatre doing what it was made to do. An invigoratingly honest portrayal of what it’s like to engage with climate change conversations (and be alive!) right this second.’
*****, Limelight Magazine

‘Raw, vulnerable and utterly engaging’
***** The AU Review

‘Finnigan’s play…manages to reach into the minds of its audience and create an emotional, practical and shudderingly wide-ranging awareness’
**** Timeout

‘The world’s biggest story, told in 50 plays over 80 minutes.’
****, The Guardian

‘Finnigan dissects the hyperobject of climate change into discrete moments in the epic of everyday life, slicing it into its smallest parts and conducting aesthetic surgery until his audience can make sense of it.’
The Saturday Paper

First produced in 2023 by the Belvoir Theatre in Sydney.

(It’s the third episode in the You’re Safe series, and the first to be performed by performers other than myself!)

Director – Carissa Licciardello
Set and lighting designer – Nick Schlieper
Costume designer – Ella Butler
Composer and sound designer – David Bergman
Vocal coach – Laura Farrell
Assistant director – Clement Rukundo
Dramaturg – Vaishnavi Suryaprakesh
Observing director – Rikiah Lizarraga
Stage manager – Luke McGettigan
Assistant stage manager – Christoper Starnawski

Cast:
Harriet Gordon-Anderson
Abbie-lee Lewis
Brandon McClelland
Ariadne Sgouros
Charles Wu