A civil society-led, agenda-setting arts initiative aims to platform much-needed conversations about climate change and how its disproportionate impacts ought to be managed.
“Who cyah hear go feel” is a loose translation of the near-extinct colloquial exhortation or warning “One day, One day, Congotay!” To register the real, present, existential threat of the climate fallout, however, local non-governmental actors have adapted it (aptly) to title their upcoming Climate Justice-themed Micro-Theatre Festival Today, Congotay!
Spread across two weekends and two communities – October 27-28 in Williamsville and November 3-4 in Brazil – the Congotay festival will present up to ten micro-theatre plays that centre climate justice issues by highlighting climate change-related stories and concerns of often overlooked communities and the most vulnerable within them.
The Cropper Foundation (TCF), an award-winning 23-year-old Trinidad and Tobago-based non-profit organisation working in sustainable development, and the Micro Theatre Festival of TT, the premier short-form theatrical experience, have partnered to amplify the voices of rural communities impacted by climate change. This project is the first in a series of climate justice-focused, arts-based interventions to be led by TCF over the period 2023-2026, supported by a grant from the Open Society Foundations.
At its core, the concept of climate justice aims to connect the climate crisis to the social and environmental issues in which it is deeply entangled, and to build awareness of the need for just division and equitable distribution of the burdens of climate change.
[caption id="attachment_1040566" align="alignnone" width="800"] The Cropper Foundation CEO Omar Mohammed. -[/caption]
Omar Mohammed, CEO at TCF said, “We often hear about climate justice in the context of discussions among countries and leaders – who should pay for what – but even within countries we have issues of climate (in) justice, and, more often than not, it’s the most marginalised and vulnerable that bear the brunt of this injustice, while also having the least-visible platform to talk about it.”
Micro-Theatre is a powerful storytelling format that consists of repeat performances of short, punchy, thought-provoking productions staged simultaneously to intimate audiences at 15-minute intervals over several hours.
Director of the Micro-Theatre Festival of TT Marcus Waldron credits the introduction of the unique theatre format to this country to Albert Smith, a Venezuelan national.
Waldron says, “What Albert offers us in the micro-theatre format is a 'Netflix-like' approach to live performances, delivering these short stories from rural areas often neglected by the mainstream. Combined, this format, thematic approach, a cast of brilliant directors and actors, and the support of schools and NGOs like The Cropper Foundation is a positive step toward engaging and galvanising our Caribbean communities around issues like climate change.”
Nine directors will present their plays at the Con
