Two Degrees

by Tira Palmquist

Emma Phelps is a paleoclimatologist, focusing on ice in Greenland. In drilling and studying ice core samples, she sees first hand the symptoms of our changing planet, which makes the need to act all the more crucial and urgent. In addition to her growing sense of urgency for the planet, Emma, as a recent widow, experiences grief that compounds itself with each passing month. Now she's been asked to come to...

Emma Phelps is a paleoclimatologist, focusing on ice in Greenland. In drilling and studying ice core samples, she sees first hand the symptoms of our changing planet, which makes the need to act all the more crucial and urgent. In addition to her growing sense of urgency for the planet, Emma, as a recent widow, experiences grief that compounds itself with each passing month. Now she's been asked to come to Washington D.C. to testify in a Senate Committee regarding climate change legislation, and in this intersection of science and politics, of politics and the personal, she finds more than just a little is breaking up under the strain of change.

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Two Degrees

Recommended by

  • Cheryl Bear: Two Degrees by Tira Palmquist
    “

    A revealing play about our climate and changing planet that brings the issues of political legislation and science to the forefront. Well done.

    A revealing play about our climate and changing planet that brings the issues of political legislation and science to the forefront. Well done.

    ”
  • e.k. doolin: Two Degrees by Tira Palmquist
    “

    This is an important climate related play, with strong human story elements including love, grief and the metaphors that follow us around to try to make sense of it all.

    This is an important climate related play, with strong human story elements including love, grief and the metaphors that follow us around to try to make sense of it all.

    ”
  • Claudia Barnett: Two Degrees by Tira Palmquist
    “

    When I saw this play at the Great Plains Theatre Conference, I was wowed by the way Tira Palmquist had mastered the language of science, the language of politics, and the language of loss, not to mention the perfect pacing. I just reread, and it's even better than I'd remembered. There's so much going on here, yet the play seems so neat. And I like all the characters, even when they dislike one another. I think that's a major achievement.

    When I saw this play at the Great Plains Theatre Conference, I was wowed by the way Tira Palmquist had mastered the language of science, the language of politics, and the language of loss, not to mention the perfect pacing. I just reread, and it's even better than I'd remembered. There's so much going on here, yet the play seems so neat. And I like all the characters, even when they dislike one another. I think that's a major achievement.

    ”
View all 10 recommendations

Development History

  • Workshop, Denver Center, New Play Summit, 2016
  • Reading, New American Voices Series, UK, 2015
  • Reading, Caltech, Mach 33 Festival, 2015
  • Reading, Athena Project Festival, 2015
  • Reading, The Road Theater Company, Summer Reading Series, 2014
  • Reading, Artemisia Theater, Fall Play Festival, 2014

Production History

  • Professional, Denver Center, 2017

Awards

  • Kilroys List
    Kilroys
    Honorable Mention
    2016