Reactor presents a conversation on climate change discourse in performing arts and a performance of Habituare (Habituation) by Ioana Hogman, livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 29 June and Thursday 30 June at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 4 p.m. UTC +0 / 7 p.m. EEST (Cluj-Napoca, UTC +3).
In June 2022, a series of events took place at Reactor (Cluj, Romania) under the theme of solastalgia: “homesickness you have when you are still at home,” a term introduced by philosopher Glenn Albrecht in 2003 to define the emotional suffering caused by perceived negative changes in the environment. The focus includes the premiere of a new performance: Habituare (Habituation) by Ioana Hogman, directed by Raul Coldea, as well as a debate, a workshop, a guest performance, and three other shows produced by Reactor.
The debate, climate change discourse in performing arts, (recorded at Reactor on 21 June) and the new Reactor performance, Habituation, (recorded at Reactor on 14 June) can be viewed online on this page.
Wednesday 29 June
Climate change discourse in performing arts (debate)
Guests:
Chantal Bilodeau: Canadian-born artist living in the United States, working on projects that focus on the implications of climate change
Delia Gavlițchi: theatre director, coordinator of cultural projects for young audience
Ioana Hogman: playwright, the author of the play Habituation, a theatre performance about eco-anxiety
Ani Mărincean: environmental activist
Oana Pușcatu: actress in Vinovat/ă (Guilty), a one-woman show about the global ecological crisis
Moderated by Petro Ionescu
The issues concerning climate change and the way it impacts the future of our planet represent an increasingly serious debate topic, intensified also by the last two and a half years of COVID pandemic, but also by other ecological crises. Our relationship with the environment is acknowledged and addressed in differing ways on the public and the governmental level, and the action taken doesn’t seem efficient enough.
In this context, we ask ourselves what art can do to address this issue or how we can still make art. How do we think about performing arts production in an ecological way? How can we talk about sustainability in theatre? How can we minimalize the environmental footprint through our artistic work and not only?
This debate seeks to offer space for reflection and good practice models from people who work in different contexts, as well as current approaches at an international level.
Thursday 30 June
Habituation (performance)
By Ioana Hogman
Director: Raul Coldea
Set design and costumes: Irina Ionescu and Raul Coldea
Video: Irina Ionescu
Light design: Cătălin Filip
Assistant directors: Ioana Sileanu and Ioana Toloargă
With Andrada Balea, Cătălin Filip, Alina Mișoc, Lucian Teodor Rus, Adonis Tanța, and Tavi Voina
Photo and video for the poster: Mihai Păcurar
We asked ourselves how our position towards climate change would evolve as its effects become impossible to ignore. We asked ourselves how we imagine the future from a present marked by insufficient action.
At the beginning of the show we find out that something will be over, but we don’t know what, or when, or how it will be; all we can do is wait, and the emptiness of waiting can only be filled with telling stories.
Special thanks: Clujul Sustenabil (Natalia Ciobanu, Marius Mornea) and Minte Forte (Melania Moldovan) for their support during the research stage. Thank you to everyone who took part in the focus groups that took part in the first part of 2022
These events are part of the cultural project “Solastalgia,” organized by Reactor and co-financed by The Administration of the National Cultural Fund. The project does not necessarily represent the position of The Administration of the National Cultural Fund. The Administration of the National Cultural Fund is not responsible for the content of the project or the manner in which the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding recipient.
