“Nobody Loves Me and the Sun’s Going to Kill Me”: Toward a Darker Ecodramaturgy

Abstract

Scholars of performance and ecology have recently argued that Western drama has ecological consequences and that those consequences have historically been primarily destructive. This article identifies an emerging subgenre of contemporary drama – the ecodystopia – and analyzes two representative examples in order to develop a darker ecodramaturgy. Building on Theresa J. May’s ecodramaturgical framework, a darker ecodramaturgy forces readers and spectators of drama to confront difficult questions about the role of humanity as a species. A dark ecodramaturgical analysis of ecodystopian drama reveals how the plays push up against the conventions of naturalist/realist dramatic forms. In doing so, the plays identify the elements of Western drama that have historically presented humanity as the cosmic protagonist, and they break down those elements so they can be reassembled anew. This article argues that the seeds of large-scale ecological awareness lie within those reassembled dramatic forms.