A river runs through it ... Melting icecaps in Greenland. Photograph: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images
No one could accuse the theatre in this country of being politically shy. In recent years, a whole range of work has been sparked by issues like Iraq, the war on terror, and the genocide in Rwanda. But the massive global threat posed by polar icecaps melting and sea levels rising has, until now, remained almost completely absent from the listings pages. Why?
The writer Bill McKibben has suggested that global warming is often considered too big an issue to fit on stage. As it is a complex process that seems to occur largely in the natural world, it is difficult to find an appropriate human story through which to approach it. And the theatre is not alone. As Robert Macfarlane has pointed out, the worlds of literature and music seem equally lacking, particularly when compared to the outpourings of artistic responses to that other great threat to our world - nuclear war.
The destructive effects of climate change are subtle and can take decades to manifest themselves. This can mean that it is not the most obvious subject for theatre-makers; by its nature, theatre as a live event is much better at dealing with the here and now than the there and then.
But a few writers do seem to be taking note. Caryl Churchill recently took part in a seminar held by the Royal Court about how the theatre could engage with the issue. Churchill wrote the libretto for an operetta confronting the subject, We Turned on the Light, commissioned by the BBC for the 2006 Proms. The Arcola theatre in east London is soon to stage a play about the recent flooding in Britain; David Farr, the artistic director of Hammersmith's Lyric Theatre, is currently collaborating with the theatre company Filter to tackle the issue; and next year, the Barbican will host an Australian company whose show Bloodstream tackles ecological destruction down under.
Theatres themselves are also slowly facing up to their green responsibilities. Sustainability is gradually becoming a vital consideration in the way they operate. The RSC has said it is a significant concern in their refit of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and the National Theatre has committed to reducing energy use by 15% by next year. But far and away the most impressive attempt at sustainability comes from the Arcola, which is aiming to become "the world's first carbon neutral theatre". (Though they need help raising the money to purchase their premises before they can achieve this.)
These are all promising signs. If the threat that climate change poses to our world is to be fully communicated, we need much more than dry scientific reports and hand-wringing newspaper columns. Like any art form, theatre can ignite the imagination and make the abstract seem personal. Climate change may not be the easiest issue for writers and directors to tackle, but it is arguably the most important.
