Ecotheater for the Global Village

Environmental Dramas featured in "e;EcoTheater for the Global Village"e; "e;EcoTheater for the Global Village"e; features three plays that confront environmental issues from an adult as well as a childs perspective -G. Thomson Frasers, "e;Giants in the Wilderness,"e; and two childrens theater dramas, MacKenzie Louise Coffmans, "e;Forest Hideout,"e; and Rebekah Lovat Frasers "e;The Tree and the Village."e; Harold Wood, education chairman for the environmentally-focused Sierra Club, was the inspiration behind the book. He contacted G. Thomson Fraser about her play, "e;Giants in the Wilderness and suggested that it be published, along with childrens dramas with an environmental theme. "e;Giants in the Wilderness"e; features John Muir, the Scottish naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club, and his role in the birth of the environmental movement in the late 19th century. "e;Wilderness"e; contains a Forestry Chautauqua Prologue and post-play Epilogue by Joseph K. Smith which can be used to open a discussion with the audience. The drama was funded by a grant from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and matching funds from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Managements Conservation Trust Fund. "e;Wilderness"e; toured as part of the 1997 Centennial Celebration of the Massachusetts State Forest and Park System. Drama critic Richard Duckett, writing for the Worcester (MA) Telegram and Gazette, characterized "e;Wilderness"e; as a history lesson. "e;By 1896, the destruction of Americas forest wilderness had become so rampant many people believed that unless something was done soon, there wouldnt be any wilderness left... Three naturalists - John Muir, Charles Sprague Sargent and Gifford Pinchot - had divergent opinions on the best way to save them."e;MacKenzie Louise Coffmans childrens theater piece, "e;Forest Hideout"e; is the story of two children, a brother and sister, who take matters into their own hands to save the family farm. Coffman is a fifth grade student in Western Massachusetts. A televised production of her play is planned for the Summer 2009 with Coffman playing the role of Isabel. Rebekah Lovat Frasers "e;The Tree and the Village"e; is an environmentally instructive fable, a mythological saga that engages the audience and is a visual feast for children of all ages. Lovat Fraser is a graduate in Film Studies from Yale University and mother of MacKenzie.In the Preface to EcoTheater for the Global Village, G. Thomson Fraser observes, "e;We humans have taken center stage in a worldwide drama to preserve the planet that only the gods of antiquity might find amusing... Theater is now challenged to take up environmental global concerns, to serve as a tool for our continued survival."e; Playwright G. Thomson Fraser is a professor, journalist, poet and novelist. Her nonfiction novel, "e;In the Claw of the Tiger,"e; which is based on the true story of a survivor of the Bataan Death March and POW camps in the Philippines and Japan, was published in 2007. Fraser holds a BA in Theater and Communications and an MFA in Playwriting.