Abstract
This paper reports the findings of the British Academy funded research project “Imagining Climate Futures Narratives through Speculative Fiction: An Experiment in Collective Immersive Listening” (2024-2026). The project engaged a number of communities to collectively listen to an extract from “Three Sisters: A Story from the Climate Future” audio play and engage in a facilitated discussion. The driving questions of this project are: In what ways, if any, does collective immersive experience of listening to speculative fiction of climate future narratives enable social and political action, and change? How are audiences affected by the existential challenges that the “Three Sisters: A Story from the Climate Future” play poses, which are not only about the climate crisis and upheaval, but also about imagining different ways of co-existing together in future worlds? The research project’s aim is to understand the role of audio plays in the discussion of climate change. This objective includes a literature review of audio plays/art which explore climate change and examining the role these works have in conveying climate change narratives and stimulating advocacy, as well as their platform-accessibility. Building on data drawn from the experience of five communal listening sessions across the North of England and Scotland, and conversing with participants, the paper explores the role of audio theatre in affecting climate action and in particular this practice experiment. The format includes a short extract from the play itself and thus enables a more engaging listening experience.
Presenters
Lena ŠimićReader in Drama, English and Creative Arts, Edge Hill University, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Human Impacts and Responsibility
KEYWORDS
AUDIO PLAYS, COLLECTIVE LISTENING, CLIMATE FUTURES, COMMUNITY, SOCIALLY ENGAGED ART
