La Mama’s new festival puts hope at the heart of climate action

La Mama Theatre will place artists at the centre of the climate conversation this September with the launch of a new three-week festival in Carlton.

Running from September 1 to 20, the La Mama HOPE PUNK Climate Festival will bring together theatre, performance, play readings, panels and free public activations across the independent theatre company’s Faraday St home.

Built around the idea of embracing “hope” as an action and “punk” as a culture, the festival aims to provide independent artists with a platform to explore climate change at a time of growing political, social, economic and environmental uncertainty.

Festival organiser Dora Abraham said hope was essential to overcoming the apathy and despair that could prevent meaningful discussion and action.

“HOPE is a radical concept these days,” Abraham said.

“In HOPE we find action. Without it, apathy drives the collective, and despair shuts down the dialogue. We need to stoke the fires of these important conversations, and artists are well-placed to shape them in fascinating, engaging ways.”

The program centres on nine feature productions, including DOPPELGÄNGSTER’s Cold War 2.0, Susan Bamford Caleo and Elissa Goodrich’s Pulse, Nelipot Collective’s Our Last Tree and Megan Herbert’s Soapboxed.

A series of one-off events will broaden the festival beyond its main performance program, with new play readings and La Mama’s SCRATCH development platform among the offerings designed to encourage conversation and experimentation.

The festival will also include a substantial program of free events and activations. These range from a large opening-night celebration and the final performance of
La Mama EMERGE to site-responsive work La Mamica, Performance + Ecology Research Lab panels and activities throughout La Mama HQ’s forecourt.

The event reflects La Mama’s long-standing role as an incubator for independent performance while inviting artists and audiences to consider how creativity can shape public responses to the climate crisis.

Tickets for paid events range from $10 to $35, while numerous parts of the program will be free.

The La Mama HOPE PUNK Climate Festival is supported by the Greater Melbourne Foundation, Community Bank Clifton Hill-North Fitzroy and the City of Melbourne, in partnership with the Performance + Ecology Research Lab at Griffith University.

The festival runs from Tuesday, September 1 to Sunday, September 20 at La Mama, 205 Faraday St, Carlton. •