This is my (incomplete) attempt to mark where there have been 12 Characters gatherings throughout the world. Please send me any links you may have to events not on my list. 30 August 2017, Rainbow Mill Community Camp, Norfolk (first trial performance) 22 September 2017, Toddington (second trial performance) 13 October 2017, Portsmouth (first public […]

When Andrew wrote his initial submission to Dark Mountain Issue 11 he was reframing a portion of the larger work, I Want a Better Catastrophe, due to be published late 2019 / early 2020. Instead of submitting an essay with his own thoughts on what we are facing with the onslaught of collapse, he instead reframed it into a […]

I’m wondering why every conversation we have isn’t about climate change and the mass extinction event we are in. I’m resisting the urge to hate myself and humanity as a result. From “I’M OPENING A TEMPLE FOR THE GRIEF SONG” — Sandy Ibrahim I can remember the day that it happened, 25th November last year, […]

“But what if we discuss it without the endgame of convincing and mobilizing and compelling others to action? Is there value in talking about this with the people in our lives simply to commiserate, communally, on this impending demise?” — Sam Miller McDonald, Climate Despair I think my involvement in 12 Characters can give an emphatic […]

It is not at all certain that we are going to avoid environmental catastrophe. — Mike King in The Writing of ‘Mountain Calls’ on the Dark Mountain Project Blog  Having read these words I was struct again by the recurring realization that as people we are living in a time when the way of living our lives […]

The same friend who asked me recently about what the target group is for 12 Characters events also asked me this question: How do you see your activity, as a performance, workshop or something else? Again, this is something that I’ve not really known how to answer and it has mattered to me a great […]

I was asked recently by someone looking to host a 12 Characters event the following helpful question: What target group you would have in mind, e.g. the  “converted”, the “deniers”,  the “sceptics”, or whatever labels you would like to give them? I liked it because it made me think long and hard about where I stood. […]

Things we tried The “Mythic Triads” as pause questions: Pause One (after: “I did the math” – jason, “I have kids, hopelessness is simply not an option” – clara, and “Let’s party like it’s 2099″-  april) Choose One to marry One character to send to a desert island One to dance with in a graveyard […]