“Sustainability: The Musical” was Alan’s unique one-man theatrical show, an entertaining, informative, and inspirational experience. The show combined elements of his popular, high-energy keynote speeches on sustainability with story-telling, images, and of course, a lot of songs — funny, instructive, and moving.
Using nothing but a simple stage set — a chair on one side, a guitar on the other — Alan took the audience on a tour through the biggest global challenges we have ever faced, and are still facing. He found humor in the most unlikely places (such as the mathematics of exponential growth), and he helps people confront their darkest fears (with songs like the “Dead Planet Blues”) … but he gave people a sense of hope that these challenges can be successfully solved. Because we humans have solved similarly huge problems already.
“Sustainability: The Musical” was designed to be very portable. The show could be performed in any theater, auditorium or conference venue, with minimal props. A chair, a table, a projector, and a sound system were all that was required. Launched in 2014, the show was performed in Sweden, Denmark, Canada and the United States, at universities, schools and conferences.
“Sustainability: The Musical” wove in stories and songs from 25 years of writing and singing about sustainability themes, including Alan’s hits “Set the World Right Again” (selected as a “Climate Song of the Week” by the UN before the 2015 Paris summit), and “We Love the SDGs,” a global music video also adopted by the UN to help promote the Sustainable Development Goals (also released in 2015).
Here’s a tongue-in-cheek promotional video trailer for “Sustainability: The Musical”
Alan AtKisson 