The drama methods developed by Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre debuted in Russia first in Toliatti and Samara, later in Moscow. Their essence is that young people, under the guidance of experienced playwrights, create short plays on either a specified or free topic over the course of several days. The short plays form the basis of a grand production staged by professional directors and actors.

Several months prior to CLIMATE ACT, on 8 November 2008, project authors took part in a workshop organized by project coordinator Maria Kroupnik, Deputy Head of Press and Public Affairs at the British Embassy in Moscow. Led by British dramatist Selma Dimitrievich, the workshop was part of the “Big Break” festival. It also proved to be the genesis of CLIMATE ACT. Selma shared her own methods for working with youth, making it possible to engage their imagination and to show, in game form, how a drama production is formed.    

 
    
Normally, amateur playwrights choose their own topic, but this time the British Embassy challenged them to explore environmental issues, focusing on global climate change.

Participating in the project were students of grades 9, 10, and 11 from seven Moscow schools, and their teachers. On the first day of work, the coordinator of WWF’s Climate and Energy programme, Aleksey Kokorin, lectured on global climate change-related issues to all project participants.

Later the teachers were treated to a workshop with British dramatist Selma Dimitrievich, while the 20 students divided up into three groups, each taught by professional dramatists invited for the programme: Vyacheslav Durnenkov and Nina Belenitskaya, Mikhail Durnenkov and Evgenii Kazachkov, Yuri Klavdiev and Ilmira Bolotyan.

While work varied from group to group, common to all was the fundamental requirement of the Traverse method: hands-on understanding of the short play. Special exercises were developed to familiarise participants with this complex literary genre.

Five days were allotted for the drama workshop. The first three days covered both theoretical and practical exercises, when the young dramatists brainstormed about the heroes and plots of their future plays. The rest of the time was devoted to playwriting.

The theme, climate change, was the main driver of conflict in the short plays. For example, in the play “Fur and Sinful” – a pun on the old Russian saying “Fun and Sinful” – by A. Nefyodova and T. Struchkova, the plot revolves around a wife who, zealously desiring a coat made of seal calf fur, leaves her ecologist husband for a fur-obsessed fashion designer. However, in the end, husband and wife reconnect, the fashion designer receives his comeuppance, and the wife is perfectly content with a faux-fur coat.

The majority of the plays are, in essence, true miniature “anti-utopias”. Here are a few examples:
- a prosperous Empire gradually destroys a tiny city, Alzhir, by turning it into a desert with toxic waste (“Heavenly Summer”, A. Shalava, A. Kononova);
- all of Earth is covered in water, with only one island left to inhabit – and even there humans die from the by-products of heavy industrial production (“Humans Have No Pity”, E. Hairetdinovoi, O. Polyakova);
- all sick people are isolated on an island, along with all toxic wastes, until a couple of brave individuals are able to change the situation (“The Other Side”, E. Dumcheva, A. Tsvetkova)

On the final day of the seminar the students presented all eight short plays to a group of theatre directors, who were to combine the short pieces into a major theatre production: O. Lisak, Y. Muravitskii, E. Reiss, M. Durnenkov, E. Kazachkov, Y. Alyesin. CLIMATE ACT premiered on 25 January 2009 on the stage of the A. Kazantsev and M. Roshin Centre for Dramaturgy and Theatrical Direction.

The participation of professional actors and producers, the grand stage setting, the publication of the short plays were all indispensable parts of the project. The students had a chance to participate in the process from start to finish, from developing the short play concept to its staging. Furthermore, the young playwrights were directly involved in rehearsals and staging of their plays.

This theatre workshop method not only cultivates an appreciation of theatre in students (some actually become dramatists after the experience), but encourages teenagers to become more aware of real issues and challenges facing society.

Unfortunately, the project in its current format does not envision long-term connections with its participants. However, it can be said with certainty that CLIMATE ACT participants learned a great deal about climate change, while expanding their overall level of cultural awareness. They have learned the culture of social behaviour and poise, the culture of dramatic reading, and the culture of dialogue.