This show ran at The Vault Festival last year, and although I couldn’t catch it then, I did interview the company about their production. You can find that feature here.
Sam, Frankie and Jack find themselves on an urgent mercy dash up to Scotland to save the last polar bear, ‘Ivan the Cub’. His habitat is a mass of melting ice caps, and his days are numbered.
This is a serious piece pitched with a light touch, and completely accessible to younger audiences. How to Save a Rock mixes music, comedy and science, and slowly mixes in statistics and actions we all can take to put the brakes on climate change.
Pigfoot are as climate aware as their show: the cast ride bikes during scenes to power the lights which illuminate their space; in other places that lighting is battery powered.
The message here is clear. Small gestures and changes by all of us can make a difference. It doesn’t have to be on the shoulders of large pollutants, consumers or business, although of course they can and should play their part.
“The earth is alive, and it isn’t giving up.” Neither must we. Feeling powerless is “a perfect petri dish for indifference”. We are always emitting, no matter what we do, but a balance between convenience and climate literacy will might well “save a rock”.
Audience members are invited to think about what they would save as the world implodes. What would you do? Writers Pigfoot (Bea Udale-Smith and Hetty Hodgson), Conky Kampfner and Alex Rugman leave you wondering long after the final scene.
How to Save a Rock steamed via the Poplar Union on 25 April 2021. It continues its virtual tour via Camden People’s Theatre on the 27 April (book here); Pound Arts on the 1-3 May (book here); and The Albany on 8 May (book here).
Find out more about Pigfoot Theatre here.