In the middle of an extreme weather event, Merlin, a magical Jack Russell/Schnauzer, faces an existential crisis. The sixth great extinction trembles all around as he struggles with the epiphany “Dogs are the white women of the animal kingdom, and he feels helpless.” As he breaks his leash and runs toward the rising waters, he undergoes biological and spiritual transformations that teach him about change, survival and the great mutual aid of being.

Join us for a dramatic reading of Merlin, a play that uses “solution-based” storytelling that features positive climate science and mutual aid activism. The performance will be followed by a roundtable discussion with playwright Susan McCully, Michele Minnick, founder of Vital Matters, a laboratory for cross-disciplinary events, artistic projects, and educational programs, Lauren Jonas, PhD candidate and research assistant at Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, and Dawn Biehler, UMBC Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Systems. This event is part of the Climate Change is Here series supported by the CAHSS Office of the Dean.

Eve Muson, Chair of UMBC Department of Theatre, will direct this staged reading.