The Seventh Assessment

A HISTORY OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN SEVEN DANCE PARTIES

Every six years, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) release a report on the state of the earth’s climate. In 2028, the IPCC will release its Seventh Assessment. And for the first time, this report will be adapted for the stage.

Over 3,600 pages long, written by more than 1,000 scientists, the IPCC Assessment Report is the outcome of the biggest scientific undertaking in history – an epic snapshot of a planet in the midst of transformation.

Like the Mahābārata or The Epic of Gilgamesh for a secular scientific era, the IPCC report contains an entire cosmology. A complete depiction of how this world came to be, and where it’s going.

And like any epic poem containing the universe, the best way to share the IPCC report is through music and dance.

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The Seventh Assessment is a long-form theatrical adaptation of the IPCC Seventh Assessment report, staged as an 8-hour dance party.

Over seven chapters and one epic DJ set, the show weaves together the science behind the report with the stories of the researchers, politicians, lobbyists and activists who have shaped the climate conversation over the last century.

Taking place in a theatre over one full day, the audience might dance, they might watch, they might leave and come back, or stay for the entire show.

Behind it all is the music, ebbing and flowing, gradually building from beatless ambiance to urgent body-rush, climaxing with an all-in dance party for the entire audience.

This is the true secret history of the world we live in and how we got here. A history lesson wrapped in a rave.

Playwright and climate risk consultant David Finnigan has been making work exploring environmental change for over 20 years.

As self-appointed IPCC artist-in-residence, David is working in close collaboration with IPCC scientists, developing the show as a real-time adaptation alongside the report itself.