Climate change is a serious topic, but Kathryn Zoerb and Francesca Chilcote are helping kids learn about it with laughter.
The pair co-run the D.C.-based Faction of Fools Theatre Company. They created a short movie called “Bean and Widge Go to the Park,” which is available on YouTube.
In the movie, two kids meet people and puppets who talk to them about protecting the Earth – “whether it’s about how to properly recycle, or what about plastics in the ocean, or what does it mean to have healthy trees and forests and why that’s important for combating climate change,” Zoerb says.
The conversations are informative and funny. Bean and Widge learn about people emitting gases – but not those gases: greenhouse gases. And they learn that cameras are not just for selfies. Special cameras can be used to monitor the health of trees.
“One of the things that Francesca and I really wanted to try to accomplish with
“Bean and Widge is how to make climate change and the science behind it accessible and how to make it bite-sized even for kids because they understand a lot more than we give them credit for,” Zoerb says.
By tackling a tough topic with humor, the actors aim to share information and hope.
Reporting credit: ChavoBart Digital Media