When the world hits rock bottom, the intervention will come in musical form.
Performance artist Cynthia Hopkins will sing for the ailing Earth at a show that takes a “This is Your Life” look at the environmental crisis, mixing theater, documentary film, and music to spread awareness and inspire activism about the planet’s sad state.
Hopkins, whose show “This Clement Word” is coming to DUMBO’s St. Ann’s Warehouse, came up with the idea for the performance while on a boat.
And in the story she tells on stage, Hopkins is in the middle of a voyage at sea when she encounters several people from various eras of the Earth’s history.
“I started thinking about making work that communicates the environmental crisis in a way that’s different from scientists and journalists,” said Hopkins, who has been creating her own one-woman productions for more than a decade. “I would call it a documentary-style tragi-comedy. There’s a lot of humor in it and there’s some dramatic action on the boat trip.”
She also took cues from her own history, particularly her path to recovery as an alcoholic.
Now, Hopkins hopes to blur the line between entertainment and activism.
“I hope it’s a piece that simultaneously stimulates the mind and provokes action,” she said.
Hopkins plays all of the characters in the show, including a Native American ghost and a person from future.
The play is about our planet, but not all of the characters are Earthlings: she also performs as a newly arrived space alien.
“An Inconvenient Truth” it is not — but she hopes to make climate change something theater-goers will leave talking about.
“There are so many people working to fix the climate, but it doesn’t make it to the front page until something like Hurricane Sandy happens,” said Hopkins. “For me, it’s a way to contribute to the consciousness in a way that’s moving and inspiring.”
“This Clement World” at St. Ann’s Warehouse [29 Jay St. between John and Plymouth streets in DUMBO, (718) 254–8779, stannswarehouse.org]. Starting Feb. 5, 8 pm, $30–$45.
Reach reporter Danielle Furfaro at dfurfaro@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2511. Follow her at twitter.com/DanielleFurfaro.
