A new world with new rules. Vibrant visions. Big possibilities.
A Downstage production with Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation
Conceived and Facilitated by Evan Medd
With new short plays by Cristhian Poblete Hernández, Miranda Martini, Camille Pavlenko, Ashay Vaidya
Dreaming Climate Consciousness is an experiment in hope, resilience and collective dreaming.
During a two-month process led by Evan, four playwrights will collaboratively imagine and inhabit a co-created speculative world. Immerse yourself in an evening of four original short plays that each offer a unique window into this collectively imagined universe.
Dive into a reimagined future with some of Calgary’s most vibrant artists!
Evan Medd (he/they) is a dramaturg, producer, performer, facilitator, and puppeteer who works across Turtle Island, primarily based in Mohkinstsis/Calgary on Treaty 7 territory, but who also sometimes works on Treaty 6 territory in amiskwaciywaskahikan/Edmonton, and out east in Prince Edward Island on Mi’kmaq territory.
Evan’s practice primarily focuses on dramaturgical strategizing of process design, mostly in collaboration with younger artists, community engaged art that intersects with environmental issues, and collaborative new play development and production with the Alberta-based Major Matt Mason Collective, for which they are a Co-Artistic Producer. A graduate of Simon Fraser University’s Performance Creation program, Evan is passionate about how dramaturgical practice can help artists discover themselves more deeply within the pursuit of artistic excellence, and how interdisciplinary performance practices can meaningfully engage communities in environmental and climate focused dialogues.
Evan spends his summers working in PEI at The River Clyde Pageant, a creative, community integrated outdoor spectacle that celebrates a social ecology while drawing attention to the impact of climate change on PEI’s waterways and ecosystems, and is currently researching and developing a similar project on the Bow River through Mudfoot Theatre with his collaborator Geneviève Pare, currently titled the Bow River Boat Pageant.
Evan has also spearheaded and facilitates an initiative called Dreaming Climate Consciousness, a collaborative process where participants work together to imagine eco-conscious futures through the lens of speculative/science fiction. Evan is passionate about utilizing creative practice as a means to stimulate both imagination and artistry while interrogating and examining the tensions that define our world.
Evan would like to thank the International Centre of Art for Social Change’s FUTURES/forward Mentorship Program for supporting them in building the DCC pilot project.
Also, Evan has endless gratitude for Dr. David Diamond, without whom this initiative would not exist.