GREENFIELD, MA — The LAVA Center is thrilled to announce the play reading recordings of The Time is Now: Climate Change Theatre Action are available to view online. The recordings encompass the play readings from the three-day festival which took place during the festival weekend of October 24–26. Produced in collaboration with the international organization Climate Change Theatre Action, the recordings show nine plays selected from their 2025 The Time is Now collection.The recordings show the plays from each performance date which featured three of the plays and centers around one of three themes: resilience, urgency and hope.
THE TIME IS NOW FOR RESILIENCE: “Science is Dead!” by David Geary, “Consultation” by Dylan Van Den Berg and “We’re Running Out of Chairs” by Kirby Vicente were directed by Ash Goverman and performed by Kendra Corrie, Barbara Friend, Holly Sroka and Clara Witty.
https://www.tixtree.com/e/climate-change-theatre-action-resilience-on-demand-video-e77c8e0ac404
THE TIME IS NOW FOR URGENCY: “Space Cat” by Lewis Hetherington, “Appreciation” by Katie Pearl and “Six Polar Bears Fell Out of the Sky This Morning” by Alister Emerson were directed by Kiersten Samalis and performed by Kendra Corrie, Barbara Friend, Priscilla Mollard, Lisa Ranghelli and Holly Sroka.
https://www.tixtree.com/e/climate-change-theatre-action-urgency-on-demand-video-59b5198f0409
THE TIME IS NOW FOR HOPE: “A Letter From the Ocean” by Caridad Svich, “The Mermaid” by Nikhil Katara, and “All Its Tainted Glory” by Georgina HL Escobar were directed by Penney Hulten and performed by Guy Fiero, Trouble Mandeson, Priscilla Mollard, Holly Sroka and Charmaine Sutton.
https://www.tixtree.com/e/climate-change-theatre-action-hope-on-demand-video-4d757d8b6fec
This year’s festival marks the tenth anniversary of Climate Change Theatre Action (CCTA) and its final festival under the current model. A response to the distressing environmental and political events happening all over the world, The Time Is Now is both a call to action and a reminder to stay connected to the present moment, an ultimatum and the promise of a new beginning. Launched in 2015, Climate Change Theatre Action has been a worldwide festival of short plays about the climate crisis presented biennially to coincide with the United Nations COP meetings. Every other year, 50 professional playwrights, representing all inhabited continents as well as several cultures and Indigenous nations, have been commissioned to write five-minute plays about an aspect of the climate crisis based on a prompt.
The nine plays presented at LAVA this year are chosen from CCTA’s 2025 database of 50 plays: 40 selected by CCTA from earlier years and 10 commissioned for 2025.
LAVA has partnered with CCTA since 2018, and has presented plays from every set except the initial pilot project in 2015. Greening Greenfield has funded each of the programs, as well as a program of short plays from three countries and four states produced online during the 2021 Covid shutdown of live theater.
The online recordings will be available to view by donation through March 31, giving audiences a look back at the festival from October, and also for new audiences to enjoy watching the play readings. Views are available via a sliding scale for each recording between $5–15, or $1 for Card to Culture. Anyone may make an additional donation to support LAVA’s fall giving campaign.
This program is made possible by funding from Greening Greenfield.