Sharon Abreu to Take “Climate Monologues” to LA

— from Irthlingz —

Sharon Abreu and Mike Hurwicz of Irthlingz

In 2010 Sharon Abreu did the first performance of her new show, “The Climate Monologues,” at The Orcas Grange. This March, Sharon will have the opportunity to bring “The Climate Monologues” to a wider audience as part of the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival.

Sharon explains, “The show came about because I was meeting people whose lives were being impacted by climate change or the fossil fuels that are contributing to it. I’d been in a production of “The Vagina Monologue”s with the Actors Theater of Orcas Island. It occurred to me that “The Climate Monologues” would be an appropriate title because, like “The Vagina Monologues”, my show would deal with a subject (climate change) that’s uncomfortable for many people, but if they came to see the show, they’d be glad they did. The show has given me the opportunity to share with audiences the stories of people who move and inspire me.”

Participating in the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development from 1998-2007, Sharon met people with compelling stories that she wanted to share. “I thought I could portray them onstage,” Sharon said. “I studied acting in New York and on Orcas with Paula Russell.” While in New York, Sharon went to see Anna Deavere Smith’s Off-Broadway show “Let Me Down Easy,” and she thought, “Yes, I can do this!”

Sharon’s process was interviewing each person and editing the 60-90 minute interviews down to 5-7 minute monologues. “It was very challenging because I had to leave out a lot of great material,” she said. She wrote a song for each monologue. In most cases, a song jumped out of something the person said in the interviews.

The show includes monologues from two people in West Virginia dealing with the impacts of coal mining. When Sharon started doing the show, coal didn’t seem to be an issue for us here in northwest Washington State. But soon after, coal became an issue here as well, with the proposal for a major coal export terminal just north of Bellingham.

“It really hit me how we need to have each others’ backs across the country,” Sharon said. “We never know when someone else’s problem will become ours.”

Sharon has performed “The Climate Monologues” for conferences, in churches and other venues. In 2011, she received the Spirit of Nature, Ecology and Society Environmental Justice Award at the City University of New York for her performance of the show at the Culture of Climate Change Colloquium.

“Last year, I started to feel that it was time to act on the positive responses I’d gotten to the show and I dedicated more of my time and energy to taking “The Climate Monologues” to the next level, not being sure what that was. One thing I did was to apply to a few theatre festivals, and was accepted by the first one I applied to.”

Sharon is excited about the messages of empowerment, encouragement, inspiration, and solutions to climate change that make up “The Climate Monologues” reaching new audiences. (Video excerpts are online at https://www.ClimateMonologues.com.)

“So many people have gotten sick from pollution in our air, land and water. So many jobs have been lost. I’m very excited about the health benefits, opportunities and good jobs that can be created in the process of responding to the climate crisis, across the U.S. and here in our local communities,” Sharon said.

So, in late March, Sharon and her partner Mike Hurwicz will head to Los Angeles.

“In addition to being my partner in life and music, Mike has been a great support with the show. He provides me with moral support and he’s invaluable in dealing with the technical aspects of the show so I can concentrate on the performance,” Sharon said.

Join efforts to take “Climate Monologues” to LA

Because participating in the Festival is at her own expense, Sharon is doing a fundraising campaign through Generosity.com (started by the crowd funding platform Indiegogo) to cover the cost of the trip. Free of the fees common to most crowd funding sites, Generosity.com allows people raising funds for causes and nonprofits to keep all the funds minus only the credit card fees. Through Generosity.com, people who want to support this endeavor can make tax-deductible contributions to the nonprofit Irthlingz Arts-Based Environmental Education that Sharon and Mike started in 2002.

The direct link to Sharon’s page on Generosity.com is:
https://www.generosity.com/fundraising/climate-monologues-to-la-women-s-theatre-festival/x/9141826
“A primary goal of ‘The Climate Monologues’ is to help people see themselves as part of the solution to climate change. I’m so encouraged that these messages will reach more people, and I appreciate the support from our community along the way,” Sharon said.

“I’ll be reporting back to the community on what happens at the Festival,” Sharon said, “and I’m looking forward to doing an updated version of the show on Orcas soon.”

Irthlingz is a 501(c)3 non-profit “Inspiring stewardship for people and the planet through education, theater and technology”