01
THE PLAY
"the earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first" - Walt Whitman
Part theatre, part ritual, part epic journey, the earth, that is sufficient is a contemplative inquiry into the precarity of human relationships to extraction, consumption, and power.
the earth, that is sufficient is an iterative performance project that conceptualizes theatre-making as an ecology, and asks audiences to consider the braided legacy of our past and the infinite possibilities we might stitch into a shared future.
The iterative performance project is told through the eyes of Lucy, the australopithecus, the 3.2 million year old hominid fossil. She speaks of the earth’s vast history and her relationship to lands, place, and time. With her, we wonder, “when a body has been turned into an object, where does it find rest?”
“From the very heart of things, something new can always emerge.” Laudato Si.
the earth, that is sufficient was produced by The Welders in Washington DC and internationally throughout 2019.
03
THE PROCESS
"and, with the shock of the sea,
my life widened out into space." - Pablo Neruda
From February - November 2019 Creative Collaborators engaged in a multi-phase research, development, rehearsal, and performance process. Phases 1 and 2 resulted in the creation of a series of performance works, which we called Mushrooms.
We define “performance” widely and welcome all kinds of events/interventions/experiences that use a wide range of performative/expressive/interactive mediums/disciplines. As such, a Mushroom might be a one-time-only event, or it might be repeated. A Mushroom might last 10 min, or it might last 8 hours.
As an embodiment of our commitment to iterativity all Mushrooms were developed as a response to one or more of the works that have been developed prior to it. In this sense each performance will act as a spore that leads to a new work. Mushrooms then both emerge as part of and extend a mycelial network that runs below the ground of these pieces: communicating, transferring chemicals and signals.
For more information about how to get involved, visit the Workshops+Performances page.
02
THE FACTS
"And while we wait, we keep digging in deeper." - Naomi Klein
Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, and sea level has risen. {1.1} Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2014.
Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems. Limiting climate change would require substantial and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions which, together with adaptation, can limit climate change risks. {2} Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2014.
Climate change will amplify existing risks and create new risks for natural and human systems. Risks are unevenly distributed and are generally greater for disadvantaged people and communities in countries at all levels of development. {2.3} Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2014.