New podcast Climate Change & Other Small Talk launches on Earth Day, April 22

Vancouver’s Carmen Aguirre is among the international playwrights taking part in trans artist Sunny Drake’s environmentally focused project

Left: Sunny Drake, the creator of *Climate Change & Other Small Talk.*

Sunny Drake presents Climate Change & Other Small Talk, beginning April 22

EARTH DAY, ON April 22, marks the launch of a new global, environmentally focused podcast headed by trans Canadian artist Sunny Drake. Climate Change & Other Small Talk features works by playwrights and activists produced in association with Why Not Theatre and nine companies all over the map.

The goal of the series is to bring people’s attention to the climate crisis in a way that hasn’t been done before, a theatrical approach that aims to inspire individuals the world over to start taking action now to protect our future.

Here’s a brief rundown: “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,” according to a release. “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 it all away….Learning about how to survive the apocalypse has never been so fun.”

The slate of international contributing artists includes Vancouver-based Chilean-Canadian author, actor, and playwright Carmen Aguirre, a core artist at Electric Company Theatre and co-founder of The Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition (CALTAC). The trailblazing multidisciplinary artist’s episode, “Rolling Hills, Green Pastures”, premieres on May 29 at 7:30 pm. With a satirical tone, it probes the US Army’s “going green” initiatives. (There will be a listening party at The Cultch; tickets will go on sale soon.)

Written and directed by Aguirre with Drake taking on the role of dramaturg, “Rolling Hills, Green Pastures” stars Montserrat Videla Samper as Esperanza Soto, Lili Robinson as a drone operator, and Charlie Demers as the floor supervisor and friend. Joelysa Pankanea created the sound design and music, while audio mixing is by Heather Brown and recording engineer is Monarch Studios.

Climate Change & Other Small Talk also features works by: Tara Beagan of Downstage Theatre in Mohkínsstsisi/Calgary; Krishnee Bhotooa of Caudan Arts in Port Louis, Mauritius; Pyemwa Deshi of Thespian Muse in Lagos, Nigeria; Bruce Gibbons Fell of Crocodilo Triste in Viña del Mar, Chile; Shauntay Grant of Zuppa in Kjipuktuk/Halifax; Ram Ganesh Kamatham of QTP in Mumbai, India; and Marie Munkara of Darwin Community Arts in Lands of the Larrakia People/Darwin, Australia.

People who sign up for the podcast will receive tips for hosting their listening party, insights from behind the scenes, a discussion guide, and ideas to support climate equity in their own community.

Climate Change and Other Small Talk can accessed wherever you get your podcasts.

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