"Maybe you’ll like this story. It’s about a penguin. And it has a happy ending"
Nicolas Billon
About the Play
In Billon's own words, The Penguin seeks to explore "the moral gymnastics and cognitive dissonance required to
object, on principle, to projects that seek to address climate change with concrete
action – like the Green New Deal". The play satirizes climate change denial, or the belief that climate change and climate injustice are mere 'hoaxes'. The albatross represents climate scientists, who are better positioned than the average citizen to predict climate disasters. The penguin, insisting that his perspective is the only correct one, flaunts the albatross' knowledge, research, and positionality. In the end, the penguin is killed by the exact danger that the albatross warned him about. By simplifying climate science debates to two animals, Billon allows the audience to see exactly how ridiculous climate change denial is. This brilliant satire serves as an effective cautionary tale about what happens when we choose our sloth, stubborn pride, and American individualism over facts and reason.
Why Deny?
Modern science has overwhelmingly proved the very real, dangerous, and imminent nature of climate change. So why argue?
There are many reasons people disbelieve the facts with which they are presented regarding climate change. Some offer religious objections, while others cite conspiracy theories circulating in far-right internet circles. As of 2019, over 100 sitting members of Congress had "expressed skepticism about climate science, or concerns about the cost of more regulations" according to Business Insider. Many of these lawmakers also accepted campaign donations from the corporations that would be most financially harmed by increased environmental regulations. So, it can be hard to tell whether the people in power actually believe climate change is a hoax, or if they just stand to benefit from peddling that lie. Either way, their denial is deeply harmful, and the effects of their actions grow deadlier by the day.
Standing Up to Denial
"There is still time to turn everything around. We can still fix this. We still have everything in our own hands.” - Greta Thunberg, No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference
In 2018, 15 year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg began protesting outside the Swedish Parliament daily, calling for swift climate action by going on strike from school. Her one-woman protest turned into a number of smaller protests. After she spoke at the UN Climate Conference, student strikes took place every week somewhere in the world. In 2019, there were multiple coordinated multi-city protests involving over a million students each. She then went on to give her now famous "How dare you?" speech at the 2019 UN Climate Conference. Greta started a global movement demonstrating that young people will not live in denial, and we will not allow our leaders to do so either.
