The UA School of Theatre, Film and Television will bring catch phrases like “”go green”” and “”reduce, reuse, recycle”” to life during “”Power 2K10.””

“”Power 2K10″” is part of a Living Newspaper series based on the 1937 production, “”Power,”” which illuminated the progression of electricity.

Now, 73 years later, students at the UA will address some of the hoopla surrounding sustainability, the environment and global warming.

“”In the 1930s, sustainability was also a topic, believe it or not,”” said Lisa Pierce, the director of marketing and development for the School of Theatre, Film and Television. “”They simply revisit the issue.””

A Living Newspaper is exactly what you think it is. Using drama, humor and some fictional characters and scenes, a Living Newspaper transforms some of society’s more complex issues into discussion topics on stage.  

“”‘Power 2K10′ takes from the Living Newspaper tradition of comedy and satire,”” Pierce said. “”The actors used improvisation based around research on sustainability and created characters and dialogue around that.””

This tradition dates back to the Great Depression when the Federal Theatre Project, a branch of the Works Project Administration, developed the Living Newspaper as a way to provide jobs for unemployed artists and journalists.

While the performances of “”Power”” were praised as comical and witty, “”Power 2K10″” will use modern, satirical models like “”The Daily Show”” and “”The Colbert Report”” to make environmental issues relevant, relatable and perhaps a little funny.

“”The most notable change (from the original ‘Power’) is the type of public information available from which to pull,”” Pierce said. “”The Internet, social media, 24-hour news networks, etc., are all resources today that were not available in the 1930s. The challenge became filtering the information since there was so much.””

The creators of “”Power 2K10″” said they hope their performance will lead the UA and Tucson community into a further discussion about green energy and our environment.

“”We were conscious of political implications and divisiveness, so we worked against that by focusing on what the Tucson consumer would do,”” Pierce said. “”We kept it local instead of global.””

Produced entirely by UA students, “”Power 2K10″” has a much higher chance of hitting home and challenging the audience.

“”Surrounding current events make this very relevant,”” Pierce said. “”Global warming and sustainability are hot-button topics in politics and even real estate.””

Expect to leave the performance laughing yet ready to think critically about sustainability. No one ever said going green had to be boring.