That’s why a new Creative Climate Action project has taken a different approach. We Built This City on Rock and Coal, which was awarded Creative Climate Action Spark funding, is a project using improvised theatre to co-create events with scientists, performers, and communities across the island of Ireland. When people think of improv, they might imagine games like the ones on Whose Line Is It Anyway, or the tools that method actors use to inhabit characters in scripted work. But the cast of We Built This City is asking the audience what the show should be about, and using improv to make each show a perfect fit for the audience that night.

The performances are scaffolded by sustainability workshops, led by The Sustainable Life School, as well as the citizen science project Caomhnú which collects stories of the climate. These elements were chosen based on consultation with rural communities, tailoring the content and approach to what these communities actually want.

Using improv, the performers and scientists make space for affective and emotional responses to the climate crisis, as well as discussions of the facts. Honouring the existential dread these topics can evoke is critical, enabling people to process and recommit to action. In the We Built This City shows that have run thus far, we also found that connecting these communities was invaluable, sharing solutions that worked in one place with a broader audience.

Each event uses written suggestions from the audience, themed around nature, the climate crisis, and why these things can be hard to talk about. The written prompts may inspire an improvised scene, a contribution from a scientist, or both, but nothing is planned in advance and the show can be both funny and dramatic at the same time.

Permission to have a laugh, and then get back to making a difference, seemed to resonate with many communities we visited. Our observations also supported the research finding that the more time people spend appreciating nature, the more they care about protecting it.

We Built This City on Rock and Coal has visited many places in 2024, with 17 shows in places like Arranmore, Rathlin Island, and Inishbofin, as well as a visit to Carlingford Lough in collaboration with Shifting Tides (another Creative Climate Action project). The final run of shows in mid-October is part of Bioeconomy Ireland Week, with free tickets for Sligo, Inisheer, and Clare Island still available.

For more information about the project, and to be updated when evaluation from We Built This City is made publicly available, please visit: http://webuiltthiscity.ie/