Dive into Climate Week North East at the Lemon Tree

Aberdeen Performing Arts is taking part in Climate Week North East with an exciting programme of climate-themed dance, theatre, children’s performance, live music, comedy, workshops and more from 29 March to 2 April.

The Lemon Tree will transform into an arts and climate hub featuring an art installation, an original and interactive eco-poetry exhibition and a local seed bank.

Aberdeen Performing Arts Creative Changemaker for Climate Action, Carole Monnier, said:

“We want to take part in the climate conversation by opening up our stages and spaces to a diverse range of powerful artistic voices who are speaking about it.

“We are striving to bring something unique and accessible for everyone to step into the climate conversation in ways that inspire people to get involved and gain a deeper understanding of the issues. But most importantly, to create a sense of hope and togetherness over an issue that so deeply affects us all.”

An exhibition, ‘Oor Future’ opens at the Music Hall on Wednesday, 29 March, exhibiting work by Gabrielle Reith and Philip Thomson, and highlighting climate issues. Gabrielle and Philip are based in Aberdeen making work under the name of “Oor Monsters”. They have worked together on many playful and inspiring projects, ‘monsterising’ things from the everyday into the fantastical since 2008. Environmentalism, Accessibility and Play are at the heart of their creations, giving a friendly but subversive approach into tackling difficult subjects. The Oor Future exhibition explores key subjects of positive and negative human activities impacting on climate change as “Two headed Monsters”. The exhibition prompts individuals to be positive, self-reflective and proactive in relation to climate action in their own lives. The exhibition will run until Sunday, 2 April.

Solo dance theatre work Burnt Out takes place on Wednesday, 29 March and is centred around our changing climate.

Weaving spoken word and movement, audiences are taken on a journey through past bushfires including Penny’s own experiences, through their ignition and devastation, and left with space to ponder how we got here. Embedded in its soundscape are sounds from Black Summer – of magpies that have learnt to mimic emergency sires, of the shark sirens used to

draw attention to the fire blackened skies, and of helicopters circling overhead. Original music from Paul Michael Henry is interwoven with the stark lighting of Great Snakes. Bringing together both past and future, fact and personal lived account, ‘Burnt Out’ is at once an intimate personal story and a universal meditation and reflection on our changing climate.

Also on Wednesday, 29 March is Performers for the Planet, a scratch night presented by Aberdeen Performing Arts hearing a double bill of thought-provoking, change-inspiring work-in-progress performances by artists whose work cuts to the heart of the climate emergency.

Jam for Climate Justice is on Thursday, 30 March. This unplugged gig, proudly presented by Aberdeen Performing Arts, will feature four fantastic musicians who have joined forces to create new songs inspired by the climate conversation, creating an evening of live entertainment, fresh tunes, and refreshments provided by local makers and bakers.

Saturday, 1 April is Climate Fools Day at the Lemon Tree. Bringing light-heartedness to the climate conversation, comedian and climate change organiser Alison Middleton, joined by her

merry troop including local talent, laugh it up while delving into the complex issues around the climate crisis, all while raising funds for local climate charities.

Poet Roshni Gallagher leads a fascinating Nature Writing workshop on Saturday 1 April. Participants will be invited to explore their personal relationship with nature by delving into memory, self, and belonging. Practice weaving voice and protest through poems, paying attention to small details in the landscape to cultivate a sense of abundance, and noticing how our bodies move through the natural world.

An afternoon Zine Making Workshop will be held on Sunday, 2 April. This laidback event will focus on zine making inspired by nature, the environment and the climate conversation. These workshops have a warm and welcoming atmosphere, and are suitable for accomplished zine makers and beginners alike.

Also on Sunday, 2 April is Pibroch. This powerful and thought-provoking multimedia theatre production will explore the parallels between the current Climate Emergency and the Piper Alpha disaster which took place in the North Sea in 1988.

Pibroch uses searing poetry created by Aberdeenshire-based writer and artist John Bolland, and mixes it with live music and striking visual imagery. This multi-media performance represents the personal and social experiences of Piper Alpha survivors and their relationship to the challenges each of us face in a warming world – our very own burning platform – with a pressing need for change.

This year’s Climate Week North East events at the Lemon Tree are completed Dagba’s Forest Tales on Sunday 9 April.

Dagba’s Forest Tales from Tales out of the Box is an enchanting Kamishibai bicycle production animated by storytellers Harriet Grindley and Maria MacDonell. Aided by their magical kamishibai, the Japanese storytelling box, Harriet and Maria lead children and families on a trail of myth and wonder through our precious natural world. Wise old Dagba, Guardian of the Forest, lays down his storytelling staff, but nature is still in danger. So Harriet and Maria take up the task of telling his inspiring Forest Tales. But is the Forest safe? How can the ending be changed? Can everyone help?

In addition to programmed events, visitors to the Lemon Tree will be going green, with plants taking over the venue, and be able to help themselves to seeds or drop off any surplus they may have as part of a city wide initiative throughout Climate Week North East. Over at the Music Hall, seed potatoes will be available for anyone to pop in and collect. The plant installation is being delivered with help from Aberdeen City Council.

All events take place at the Lemon Tree and are on sale now.

Book here