NPX Weekly Round-Up: RAIN AND ZOE SAVE THE WORLD by Crystal Skillman
A protest play with music about climate change and first loves, plus three other plays I'm excited about this week.
Hello everyone! Today’s play discusses climate change, protesting, animal death, and illness caused by environmental factors. Nothing too intense, but if any of those things may trigger you, it’s safe to say you shouldn’t add this one to your TBR. Happy reading!
Gil Scott-Heron once said, “The revolution will not be televised,” and many have repeated his words since. And, largely, they seem to be true. No, the revolution will not be televised.
But, perhaps, it will be on stage.
As I talked about extensively in my two part essay on book banning and its effect on theater, many a play or musical has featured radical and controversial ideas. In countries rife with censorship, theater continues underground, spreading hope and resistance. TV is easily edited, censored. Live performance is not so easily regulated.
Protest art has always existed, and it’s a tradition that continues on in the modern day. Political and social justice theater are forms consistently utilized and produced, discussing a variety of issues prevalent today. This week’s play concerns climate change, it’s effects on the planet and humans, and how different forms of protest do or do not effect change.
Here is the summary from NPX of Rain and Zoe Save the World by Crystal Skillman:
Two Seattle teenagers embark on an impulsive motorcycle journey to join a group of oil protesters on the East Coast. But as they follow a major pipeline across the country, what began as two young activists' longing to belong to something greater than themselves gives way to Rain and Zoe discovering that the true danger in this world might just be growing up.
A lovely and ephemeral coming of age story backlit by the harrowing and true facts of climate change, Rain and Zoe… explores how youthful idealism is both foolish and admirable at the same time.
This work is theatrical in its bones, starting out with a scene where the actors freely acknowledge that they are in a play, telling the audience a story. From there we are whisked into Rain and Zoe’s world, and we learn that Zoe has invited Rain to go with her on a cross country road trip to a climate change protest in Philadelphia. The two barely know each other at this point— but it is made immediately clear that Zoe has feelings for Rain. After some cajoling, Rain agrees to go on this trip. The two leave at midnight on Rain’s dad’s old motorcycle.
What follows is a journey with multiple obstacles, both within and without our main characters. Some are directly caused by climate crisis events, some by the headstrong and youthful determinism of both Rain and Zoe. There is a distinct push and pull between our two protagonists, both of whom crave to be known intimately but also desperately want to do something that “matters”. These things occasionally are at war with each other, leading the two to make a few rash decisions that hurt the other’s feelings.
There are two players in addition to Rain and Zoe who play all the other characters in the play, such as parents, friends, and some climate change denying strangers. These players are versatile and lively, connecting all the elements of the story together with their portrayals. They do have a secret identity— but I won’t reveal that here. You’ll have to read it to find out!
This play does a good job of maintaining a sense of urgency, providing more and more reasons that our protagonists need to get to Philly ASAP. At first, we are just excited to see Zoe perhaps reunite with her activist mother— but then all hell breaks loose when the two teens run into the Midline Pipeline in Minnesota. Zoe becomes ill, Rain maybe kinda sorta blows up a refinery, and now the two are not only wanted by the police, but Rain is desperately trying to get Zoe to go to a hospital. Zoe is also learning the truth of where her mother has really been for the past decade or so, and all of these things crash into each other in a horrible mess of emotion.
If you recall last week’s post on Playwrights Teach Playwriting 2, you may remember the tidbit I mentioned from Stephen Dietz’s essay on “turns”. This work does a great job of utilizing them! Just when the action seems like it may hit a lull, Skillman inserts a “turn” (“an escalation, major new information, a reversal, a surprise, a paradigm shift…[something that] keeps pulling us in”). The playwright seems to prefer escalations and new information, adding more and more pieces to the puzzle until suddenly, it all adds up. Connecting this piece to said book was really illuminating, and showed craft at work.
This play is one to read if you would like to see a good example of a few things: the use of “turns” as previously stated; the use of overt theatricality; and climate justice performance. It is a play that I think one might learn more from seeing than reading, but it’s definitely still worth a read.
Here is my official recommendation from NPX:
A play with a lot of heart, hope, and sweetness that shows the truth in the experience of growing up, with all its awkward desperation and admirable passion. The message about climate change is explored deeply and clearly without being preachy, while showing the occasional youthful cringiness of the protagonists in a very endearing way. Loved the reveal at the end!
Have you read this play? Want to read it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Here are three more plays that intrigued me this week:
WHITELISTED by Chisa Hutchinson
FUKT by Emma Goldman-Sherman
poison tree by Jordan Elizabeth
Want me to read one of these, or perhaps a different play? Maaaaybe even one of yours? Let me know by responding via email or DMing me in the SubStack app!
Happy theatre making!
~Brynn