We are a group of people with limited acting experience but plenty of enthusiasm. We are all taking time off from our day jobs, evening jobs and life commitments, to pursue the aim of bearing witness to the truth of what is happening to the Earth, the climate and all of us.
We perform short plays, lasting about 10 – 15 minutes, in our unique style. We actively engage our audience.
The Crude Oil Mechanicals perform their shows both to support demonstrations protesting about climate change, and at events like festivals and community events. We have put on many shows since 2019, in the South-East of the UK, including Sussex and London and are used to performing our shows outdoors.
We perform in a pantomime style and invite a response from the audience. Our characters are larger than life. For example, a grotesque figure representing the oil industry; usually an ordinary person trying to make their way in the world amidst the climate and economic crises, whom the audience can identify with. Often the Sun warms us and then parches us; Water bathes us and floods us.
We aim for maybe a little more complexity than simple villains and heroes and we play with our ambivalences where, for example, we want to protect the climate but we love our plane trips to hot places. And we try to shed light on the complex economic relationships that lock us into cycles that are destroying our world – the banks, investment corporations who are looking after our pensions, the insurance industry. But we never lose sight of telling a good story with strong characters that make people laugh.
We use giant puppets and have wild colourful costumes, to draw people’s attention.
People can stop and watch the whole show. They can pause for a few seconds and gain a snapshot that they can recognise. They can glance from time to time from their seat at a pub across the road, and get a sense of what we’re about. They may take a picture on their phone to show to friends, or to post. We believe that all these contacts can help to increase the conversation about climate breakdown, and what needs to change.