Students dance for climate action

SMB College Group’s Performing Arts Undergraduates put on an original performance entitled ‘Plastic Jungle’ at the college’s own Melton Theatre and fundraised for Cool Earth.

We caught up with Megan, who was in charge of marketing and fundraising, to find out more about the performance and why the students chose to dance for climate action.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself and the course you’re on

Hi! My name is Megan Goodman and I am currently studying for my BA in Performing Arts at SMB group at their Melton Campus!

Jessica Rocks, Abbie Marshall, Molly Hubbard, Abbie Black, Megan Goodman, Victoria Allen and Alice Benstead. Photographer: Andy Longley-Brown.

What was the inspiration behind your performance?

Our inspiration came from many different areas, we originally looked at ‘The Jungle Book’ by Rudyard Kipling and also Akram Khan’s adaptation of this: ‘Jungle Book Reimagined’. As we moved through our creative process we also looked at the famous climate change activist Greta Thunberg and she was a big inspiration for the character I actually played, Mowgli.

What was the best part about creating Plastic Jungle?

There were so many great moments whilst creating ‘Plastic Jungle’ but the best bit was definitely getting to do what we all love which is performing whilst also feeling like we were making a difference. It was so empowering as young people to know you can help to make a difference. For me climate change and protecting the planet has always been a big passion of mine and the fact we were collaborating this idea into a performance felt great, I feel theatre is so accessible to so many people in so many different ways so it was a really clever way of spreading the message of the severity of the climate crisis and ways we as young people can help. Also working with the other cast members and our amazing choreographer, Cat Webb, just made the experience brilliant. I would do it all over again if I could.

How did you find about about Cool Earth?

I was actually in charge of marketing and fundraising for this project so I researched in depth into various different charities that focused on the climate crisis and it’s effect. I finally decided on ‘Cool Earth’ because I just loved their ethos, the whole idea of people being the solution to the issue just felt right to me. After researching further into them I just felt their whole website completely hit the nail on the head, it opened my eyes to the fact that the people who are producing the least amount of pollution are actually the ones that are suffering the most.

Why was it important for you to raise awareness and fundraise for Cool Earth?

I just think charities like ‘Cool Earth’ need all our support, we are at an absolutely pivotal point in our fight against the climate crisis and charities like ‘Cool Earth’ are going to be making the biggest impact right now. I feel we as a nation often get swept up into the politics of everything, what is the point in politics and what ever issues we have if we don’t have an actual planet to live on? It sounds shocking but I think it needs to be. We hope our performance reached out to our audiences and made them more aware about amazing charities like ‘Cool Earth’ and all the fantastic work they’re doing.

How did you go about promoting your event?

We used many ways to market our show, especially through social media. We had an Instagram and a Facebook set up for the show which I posted consistently on. We also had t-shirts made and they were made with eco-cotton as well as leaflets that were made with 100% recycled card. We also held multiple fundraising events which helped raise money for ‘Cool Earth’ whilst also promoting our show which was great!

Do you have three top tips for other people wanting to host something similar?

🌟 Push your event as much as possible, don’t ever feel like you’re being too much

🌟 Working as a team makes life a lot easier and it also makes it so much more fun

🌟 Promote your event in as many different ways you possibly can, word of mouth is really useful don’t underestimate it!