Climate Change and Other Small Talk / In The Dumps
Story
Climate Change and Other Small Talk
Created by Sunny Drake and produced in association with Why Not Theatre and 9 companies around the world
Feeling overwhelmed by the looming threat of climate change? We’ve got you! Sunny Drake's Climate Change and Other Small Talk is a theatrical podcast that is here to hold your hand through the scary stuff and entertain you at the same time.
Made by 9 creative teams around the world, these podcast episodes have got it all: from the witty to the wacky, and the serious to the silly. It’s guaranteed to be fun and ignite your inner climate warrior all while offering global perspectives on the climate crisis.
There will be weird sound effects. An angry panda running a submarine. And a 500-year-old tree that… well we can’t give the rest away.
Launching Earth Day - April 22nd - subscribe at ClimateChangeAndOtherSmallTalk.com or wherever you get your podcasts, so you never miss an episode. Learning about how to survive the apocalypse has never been so fun.
ZUPPA produced Episode 9, In The Dumps by Shauntay Grant. It is the final episode in the series and will be released on Wednesday June 14th, 2023.
In The Dumps - An exclusive, pre-release, listening event for "In The Dumps" by Shauntay Grant
When: Saturday, May 6th – Every hour @ 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm, 1:00pm, 2:00pm, 3:00pm
Location: Africville Museum (5795 Africville Rd)
Duration: 45 mins
Tickets: FREE
Tickets are FREE but, if they are able, audience members are encouraged to make a donation to The Africville Heritage Trust. Donations can be made through the trust’s Canada Helps page or at the museum on the day of the event.
What makes this event exclusive? And what exactly is a pre-release listening event anyway?
The Africville Museum is not usually open on Saturday. Museum staff have generously agreed to allow In The Dumps audiences to peruse their exhibit as part of the event. Furthermore, staff from the museum will welcome the audiences and give a brief, contextual introduction about the museum and how it relates to Shauntay’s play.
In The Dumps is an audio play. It's like a radio play...but it's not on the radio. Audience members will be provided with wireless headphones and are invited to wander around Africville Park while they listen. In The Dumps, is part of the nine episode series Climate Change and Other Small Talk. Shauntay’s play is Episode 9, the final episode in the series. It will be released on Wednesday June 14th. By attending this exclusive, pre-release, listening event on May 6th, audience members will not only get to hear In The Dumps more than one month before its release date, they will also be treated to another pre-release selection from the series; Rolling Hills by Carmen Aguirre, produced in Vancouver by Electric Company.
In The Dumps by Shauntay Grant, produced in Kjipuktuk/Halifax by Zuppa - 13 minutes
In the wake of the Africville apology, a father enlists his eleven-year-old son in an act of illegal dumping to challenge decades of environmental racism in their rural Black Nova Scotian community. Their banter moves between playful and serious as they discuss ways of bringing about meaningful change.
Rolling Hills by Carmen Aguirre, produced in Vancouver by Electric Company - 13 minutes
Esperanza Soto welcomes new recruits to a U.S. drone centre. Run entirely on wind energy, the centre is part of the U.S. Army’s Green Military Movement. One of the drone operators is a climate refugee from Vancouver. What choices will she make when climate refugees attempt to cross the border from Mexico?
Content advisory:
- In The Dumps contains mild profanity.
- Rolling Hills contains mature themes: military violence with civilian casualties (teens), PTSD, and strong language.
Audience members will have one hour to enjoy the welcome/introductory remarks by museum staff, peruse the museum and listen to the two audio plays while wandering through Afriville Park.
This exclusive, pre-release, listening event for In The Dumps, by Shauntay Grant is presented in association with Mayworks Festival Kjipuktuk/Halifax, The Africville Museum and The Ecology Action Centre.
Tickets are FREE but, if they are able, audience members are encouraged to make a donation to The Africville Heritage Trust. Donations can be made through the trust’s Canada Helps page or at the museum on the day of the event.
Donations will go towards the future development, growth and sustainability of The Africville Museum and Park. The site is a powerful reminder of the reality and terrible legacy of environmental racism in Nova Scotia. It is important, as we encounter the climate crisis, that we don’t repeat injustices. Instead, we must equip systematically marginalised communities against the effects of environmental racism exacerbated by climate change.
- Excerpts from the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Climate Change report “Weathering What’s Ahead: Climate Change Risk and Nova Scotia’s Well-being”. December 2022.
Some [Nova Scotians] will be impacted by climate change more than others.
African Nova Scotians have faced centuries of racism. This has created inequities in access to health, education, and social services.
These inequities interact and shape where people live and their social and economic circumstances. This can increase their exposure and vulnerability to climate hazards.
Some African Nova Scotian communities are located close to environmental pollutants. Others still struggle with substandard infrastructure, such as roads and drinking water, that are not up to the challenges of tomorrow’s climate conditions.
Company
Climate Change and Other Small Talk
Created by Sunny Drake and produced in association with Why Not Theatre and 9 companies around the world
In The Dumps
Written by Shauntay Grant
Directed by Mike Payette
Sound design, music and audio mixing by Jackson Fairfax-Perry
Starring:
Jacob Sampson as Dad
Ny Langdon as Nate
with
Liliona Quarmyne as Mom
Ben Stone as the Security Guard
Dramaturgy by Jacob Sampson and Myekah Payne
Recording engineers: Ben Creelman and Luke Batiot at Village Sound and Jackson Fairfax-Perry
Episode Produced by ZUPPA with support from Sunny Drake Productions
Episode Producer & Production Manager Ben Stone
Jacob Sampson and Ben Stone are members of ACTRA Maritimes and were engaged under Music Code 2011
Mike Payette is a member of The Canadian Actors’ Equity Association and was engaged under the D.O.T. Agreement
In the Dumps was produced in Kjipuktuk (Halifax), Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia), the territory of the Mi’kmaq.
Climate Change and Other Small Talk is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council, with additional support for this episode by Arts Nova Scotia, and Halifax Culture and Events.
Zuppa is funded by The Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Nova Scotia and Halifax Culture and Events
Schedule
Climate Change and Other Small Talk - Launching on Earth Day, April 22nd
In The Dumps, An exclusive, pre-release, listening event - Saturday, May 6th – Every hour @ 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm, 1:00pm, 2:00pm, 3:00pm
Episode 9, In The Dumps by Shauntay Grant. It is the final episode in the series and will be released on Wednesday June 14th, 2023.
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