Student Blog: Directing a World Premiere

Coming to the IndyFringe Festival, is the world premiere of Climate Follies written by Jim Poyser, the current Executive Director of Earth Charter Indiana. "Climate Follies is a comedy to cope with the climate crisis. 5 actors play a multitude of roles across 15 super short scripts using clowning, puppetry, singing, and dance." Director, Raphael Schwartzman, and Jim Poyser have been working with the current cast since July 2021 but have been workshopping the script since 2019. Thanks to the production design, the show has been mostly "zero-waste, carbon-neutral, 100%-recycled" so far.

Director, Raphael Schwartzman (freelance director, producer and creative coach), is an alum of Butler Theatre, so I was able to ask him a few questions about the show and his journey as an artist:

Q. What do you hope the audience gets from the show?

A. I hope the audience gets a good laugh and a chance to connect with others involved in an extraordinarily difficult topic. I imagine if you're coming to a show called Climate Follies, you've accepted the reality that we're in a climate crisis driven by human action. We're not on stage trying to change peoples' minds - this show isn't about educating folks on the mechanics or causes of climate change, though there is a little bit of that - and we're certainly not on stage trying to make folks feel guilty about their personal actions. We want you to laugh. We want you to find a place to put big feelings about a global disaster that's nearly unfathomable - then let's talk about taking group action to change the systems that are causing this crisis.

Q. With this show, how do you strike the right balance of comedy and the seriousness of the climate crisis?

A. I'm not sure that we do! The climate crisis is a disaster at such a monumental scale that it's nearly unfathomable in the span of a single play - let alone one that lasts for 60 minutes - so we do our best to focus on the comedy and let the drama and tragedy of it speak for itself underneath. There are a few moments in the show where we let the pain and horror take the focus, but I need us to really earn those moments. First and foremost, I want the audience to laugh. Come see the show and let me know how we did!

Q. What does a typical rehearsal look like?

A. My goal as a director is to empower the artists I work with to author the show together, to solve problems, and put their personal stamp on the piece, so I spend most of my time setting up circumstances for the actors to trust me and each other, to build vocabulary, and create experiments and take risks - then I edit. I start every rehearsal with group physical work, drawing from Psychophysical Action, Viewpoints, clowning, and mask/object performance. Then, we work the scenes using the insights we learned in the physical work. We spent all of July building an ensemble and workshopping the scripts, and in August we've been staging the scenes and building natural disasters out of cardboard.

Q. What has your journey in the theatre world been like since graduating from Butler?

A. After graduating from Butler with my BA in Theatre in 2011, I spent the summer in Italy with director and mask maker, Bernardo Rey, creating a solo mask performance based on Georg Buchner's Woyzeck and training in Psychophysical Acting. Then I directed, acted, and designed in Chicago and around the midwest for about 10 years, figuring out what I was about as an artist. Now, I'm focusing on directing cross-disciplinary new works for the stage that support the healing and empowerment to resolve the environmental, economic, social and political crises that we're all suffering through. During the pandemic, I started my creative arts and coaching practice called Strike Home to further this goal (learn more at www.raphaelschwartzman.com). Climate Follies rings all those bells, so I'm thrilled and honored to be working on it.

Q. Anything else you want people to know about Climate Follies?

A. It's not too late. You can make a difference. The only thing that matters is what you decide to do.

For any readers in the Indianapolis area, go see Climate Follies! It is premiering at the Oasis at the Murat on 8/19 at 7:30 p.m., 8/21 at 9 p.m, 8/28 at 3 p.m., 8/29 at 6 p.m., 9/3 at 9 p.m., and 9/4 at 4:30 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://indyfringe.org/shows/climate.

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