Is climate change turning the blowtorch on outdoor theatre?

Open-air staging has always been a gamble. Climate change is shifting the odds.

It’s one of the cherished rites of summer. A blanket or a folding chair. An esky. Your bestest friends. A show under the stars.

Every year, outdoor theatre productions draw tens of thousands of people annually to city parks, heritage gardens and beachside reserves. Their informality, interactivity, emphasis on entertainment and, in recent years, aura of relative COVID safety, make them an enduringly popular fixture in the entertainment calendar.

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Acting Performing Arts Editor Jason Blake is a career arts writer, critic and editor. He studied theatre directing at the VCA and NIDA, served as arts editor for the Sydney City Hub, edited subscription TV guides and reviewed theatre for the Sydney Morning Herald from 2009-2017. He was co-founder of audreyjoural.com.au and recently publications manager for the Sydney Film Festival. He shares his home office with a possum.