ABOUT THE PROJECT

We Hear You—A Climate Archive is a global performance project exploring youth perspectives on the climate emergency.

Inspired by Greta Thunberg’s urgent question “Can you hear me?,” We Hear You—A Climate Archive seeks to amplify—and to record for future generations—the ways that today’s young people are experiencing changes in the fundamental forces of the earth.

Beginning on October 3, 2022, the project will commission 77 young people to tell stories about what it’s like to be alive in this pivotal moment. Rather than political boundaries, storytellers will represent a diverse set of ecosystems, or biomes, with special emphasis on most affected people and areas. We are looking for tale-tellers of all kinds who have something urgent to say about their connections to the earth: students, activists, gardeners, water protectors, farmers, wisdom-keepers, fisherfolk, faith leaders, animal lovers, and peacemakers.

These stories will be shared in online sessions led by the project’s creative team before being published online, preserved in a long-term archive, and amplified through a global series of performance events, including a world-premiere production at Dramaten (Sweden’s Royal Dramatic Theatre). In addition to these events, the project will feature curricular engagement with students in Washington, DC, Stockholm, and beyond.

  • We Hear You—Greta Thunberg's Speeches | Danilo Bejarano, Mia Benson, Electra Hallman, Thomas Hanzon, Per Mattson, Ingela Olsson, Maria Salomaa, Tiril Wishman Eeg-Henriksen among others | Photo by Jacob Bengtsson

    Stockholm+50 | Razmus Nyström and Melinda Kinnaman | Photo by Jens Olof Lasthein

    We Hear You—A Climate Archive | Ashanee Kottage, Elliot Williams, Lilli Hokama, Myiah Smith, and Nadia Nazar | Photo by Wolf Hertzberg

    Stockholm+50 | Photo by Jens Olof Lasthein

    We Hear You—Greta Thunberg's Speeches | Danilo Bejarano, Mia Benson, Electra Hallman, Thomas Hanzon, Per Mattson, Ingela Olsson, Maria Salomaa, Tiril Wishman Eeg-Henriksen among others | Photo by Jacob Bengtsson

    We Hear You—A Climate Archive grows from the performance We Hear You—Greta Thunbergs Tal, originally presented at Sweden’s Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm on January 31, 2020. Staged by Jacob Hirdwall and Ada Berger, this performance drew on the texts of Greta’s speeches collected in No One Is Too Small To Make a Difference (Penguin, 2019).

    We Hear You—A Climate Archive's performance series launched with an evening of climate storytelling on March 18, 2022 at the COAL + ICE exhibition presented by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Asia Society. An ensemble of DC-area youth artists and activists shared an original performance weaving their own experiences with the words of Greta Thunberg.

    On June 1, 2022, We Hear You—A Climate Archive opened the “Sustainable Planet, Sustainable Health” conference hosted by Stockholm University, Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Stockholm Environment Institute. Actors Melinda Kinnaman and Razmus Nyström performed a series of climate stories. The conference was part of Stockholm+50, an international meeting convened by the United Nations General Assembly in Stockholm, Sweden.

    MORE PROJECT EVENTS COMING SOON!

  • We Hear You—A Climate Archive is a collaboration between Dramaten (The Royal Dramatic Theatre of Sweden), The Earth Commons—Georgetown University’s Institute for Environment and Sustainability, The Embassy of Sweden in Washington, DC, and The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics. We Hear You—A Climate Archive is co-conceived by Caitlin Nasema Cassidy and Jacob Hirdwall. Additional support for this project is provided by the Swedish Arts Council and Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.

    The creative team for We Hear You—A Climate Archive includes Wijdan Al-Khateeb (Producer), Caitlin Nasema Cassidy (Project Director), Robert Duffley (Dramaturg), Jacob Hirdwall (Director and Playwright), Swedian Lie & Zero One Digital (Web Designers), and Afsoon Pajoufar (Stage Designer).

    Wijdan Al Khateeb (she/her, Producer) is a Palestinian producer based in Doha, Qatar. She earned her BS in Media Industries and Technology at Northwestern University in Qatar and is currently pursuing a MA in Women, Society, and Development at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar. Her work and research focus on Palestinian women. As a producer, she has worked on The NU-Q Creative Media Festival, as well as award-winning films Tick Tock and Refuge, both of which premiered at Ajyal Film Festival. Wijdan served as Project Specialist for The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy/FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and as Creative Media Intern with Qatar Foundation. In addition to producing, she currently works for Qatar Foundation in the Community Development Department as Marketing Coordinator.

    Caitlin Nasema Cassidy (she/her, Project Director) is a theatremaker of Syrian-Lebanese and Irish descent based in NYC, where she serves as Founding Co-Artistic Director of LubDub Theatre Company. Caitlin is the 2022-23 Artist-in-Residence of The Earth Commons—Georgetown University’s Institute for Environment and Sustainability and was an inaugural Fellow of the Lab for Global Performance and Politics and Edinburgh Institute for International Cultural Affairs. Performance credits include NY Times Critic's Pick Pay No Attention to the Girl with Obie Award winning Target Margin, the world premiere of Paradise at Central Square Theatre for which she received the 2018 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Actress, and The Vagrant Trilogy at The Public Theater. Caitlin has developed work with The Orchard Project NYC Greenhouse, Page 73, NYTW, Ars Nova, Atlantic Theater Company, Long Wharf, UNESCO World Theatre Conference, and more. CaitlinNasemaCassidy.com

    Robert Duffley (he/him, Project Dramaturg) is a dramaturg, editor, and teacher based in New York City. Robert is Editor & Associate Dramaturg at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University, Dramaturg for LubDub Theatre Co, and an affiliated faculty member at Emerson College. Recent/upcoming productions include the Broadway revival of 1776 (A.R.T./Roundabout), Claudia Rankine’s HELP (The Shed), Miranda Rose Hall’s A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction (currently touring Europe in a production directed by Katie Mitchell), LubDub Theatre Co’s The Uncle Geoff Magic Show (Target Margin Theatre Labs), The Lazours’ We Live in Cairo (A.R.T.), and Celine Song’s Endlings (A.R.T.). Publications include The Roadmap for Recovery and Resilience for Theater (Editor) and works for Howlround, Routledge’s Contemporary Theatre Review, and Six By Eight Press. Education/Training: MFA, A.R.T./Moscow Art Theatre School Institute at Harvard University; BA, Georgetown University. Portfolio: robertduffley.com

    Jacob Hirdwall (he/him, Director/Playwright) has for The Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm staged Paralysie générale! (2004-17), Emperor Fukushima (2011), What Is Politics (2012), Another Country (2012), Requiem for an Activist (2012) and We Hear You—Greta Thunberg’s Speeches (2020). On behalf of Swedish Radio he has directed his own play Emperor Fukushima (2011), Kristian Lundberg's The Yard (2012) and Anita Goldman's If I Have To Travel To Los Alamos (2014). Jacob is the artistic director of Ensembleverket and has with that group staged There Is Someone Sitting On the Wing (2010) and the play The Undiscovered Country (2013, also performed in Reykjavik and in New York). He has written and directed the trilogy Landscape With Winter-birds (2015), Sleepwalking In The Nether World (2016, New York 2019) and People Who Disappear (The City Theatre of Stockholm, 2018). In 2019, Jacob made his debut as an author with the novel Picnic At The End Of the Road. Jacob was during 2017-2020 head of The Bergman Studio - a workplace for drama-development. Jacob's play Conversation With Strangers was performed at Athens Democracy Forum in 2022.

    Afsoon Pajoufar (she/her, Project Designer) is an Iranian designer of stage and environment for play, opera, and live performance. Afsoon’s artistic practice is often focused on the intersection of space and new technologies including XR and live video. Her works have been presented in venues and festivals including Theatre for a New Audience, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), New Ohio Theatre, Bard Fisher Center, HARVARD TDM, MIT, KITCHEN THEATRE, and PRELUDE festival. She received her MFA in Scene design from Boston University and is a proud member of USA829. afsoonpajoufar.com

    Swedian Lie (he/him, Project Designer) is a creative consultant and designer originally from and based in Indonesia. He is Co-Founder and Creative Director of Zero One Digital, a holistic branding and digital marketing agency focused on cohesive brand building & storytelling, and VP of Creative at Zero One Group, an integrated technology services company that provides personalized solutions to even the most challenging business problems. He has worked as a scenic designer with Rorschach Theatre, Georgetown University, and Jakarta Players, and as a graphic designer with LubDub Theatre Co., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Studio Theatre, among others. With nearly a decade of experience in branding, digital marketing, advertising, and theatre design, Swedian brings strategic knowledge and design expertise to projects requiring in-depth interdisciplinary practice and international collaboration.

    Dramaten/The Royal Dramatic Theater Dramaten/The Royal Dramatic Theater is Sweden's national stage and the host of the International Ingmar Bergman Festival. The CEO is Maria Groop Russel. As of March 1, 2020, Mattias Andersson is the artistic director. dramaten.se/en

    The Earth Commons—Georgetown University’s Institute for Environment and Sustainability is an internationally recognized home for innovative education, groundbreaking research and transformative action on the environment and sustainability at Georgetown University. earthcommons.georgetown.edu

    The Embassy of Sweden in Washington, DC is one of Sweden’s largest missions and serves as the official link between Sweden and the United States. The Embassy of Sweden is located in House of Sweden, a physical representation of Swedish values such as openness, transparency and democracy, and the flagship of Sweden’s public diplomacy in the United States. houseofsweden.com

    The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics humanizes global politics through performance. We cultivate a distinctive global community of collaborators that includes students, emerging and established artists, educators, policy leaders, and activists. Our work harnesses narrative, memory, and acts of witnessing with the aim of sparking transformation and change. globallab.georgetown.edu

    Additional support by
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  • Ashanee Kottage
    Myiah Smith
    Lilli Hokama
    Nadia Nazar

    Elliot Williams
    Julia Beu
    Joseph Ravago
    Jameson Nowlan

    Razmus Nyström
    Melinda Kinnaman
    Kiyo Gutiérrez
    Isuri Wijesundara

    Eliza Palter
    Pauline Owiti
    Beatrice Ann Dolores

  • The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

    Asia Society

    Stockholm University

    Karolinska Institutet

    KTH Royal Institute of Technology

    Stockholm Environment Institute

    Rattlestick Playwrights Theater

    New York Theater Salon

    Global Forms Festival

    Georgetown Humanities Initiative

    Center for Law and Social Policy / New Deal For Youth

    COAL + ICE

    Creative Thought Partners

    Asif Majid

    Jennifer Peacock

    Miranda Rose Hall

    Devika Ranjan

    Special Thanks to

    Abigail Devine

    Joan Cassidy

    Center for Native American Youth