Giving Compass' Take:
- Food Tank presents its performance of Catalyst Coffee, a new play about climate justice and labor organizing set in a coffee shop, for Climate Week NYC 2025.
- How does a play like Catalyst Coffee hold the power to leaves its audience with meaningful questions and reflections on power, solidarity, and survival?
- Learn more about trends and topics related to arts and culture.
- Search our Guide to Good for nonprofits focused on arts and culture in your area.
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On the evening of Tuesday, September 23, Food Tank will host a performance of Catalyst Coffee, a new play written by Bernard Pollack and presented by Food Tank for Climate Week NYC. Named “one of the best new shows of 2024” by The Arts Fuse, Catalyst Coffee pulls attendees behind the counter and into the high-stakes world of a barista union campaign. This play Puts Climate Justice
The performance, by special invitation only, is an immersive theatrical workshop reading that blends sharp drama with bold questions about power, solidarity, and survival.
“I believe the best artists are truth tellers, and the best actors live truthfully in imaginary circumstances. Catalyst Coffee, while deeply inspired by real unionizing efforts, is a play created by Food Tank. The imaginary circumstance in this play explores what’s best for the humans that serve us what we want and need,” says Director Lakisha May. “During the pandemic, we all became aware of what jobs were essential. I love art that reminds us of what’s essential in this fleeting life.”
May hopes the audience leaves the performance with questions that will resonate deeply and pop up throughout their daily lives. For example, when grabbing a cup of coffee, May invites the audience to ask: “How do I engage with the person serving me my latte/tea/juice? Do I see them as a human being with needs and desires? Where did my beverage’s ingredients come from? What resources were needed to contain/hold the beverage that’s now in my stomach? Who cleans the toilets in the bathroom that I just ran into and used quickly?”
The Climate Week event will kick off at 7pm at the Greene Space at WNYC-NPR Studios and conclude at 10pm. Before and after the performance, there will be a reception featuring food and drink.
Catalyst Coffee was written by Bernard Pollack, with dramaturgy by Elena Morris. The cast includes Stacey Sargeant as Monique, Kalyne Coleman as Ashley, Keshav Molidar as Michael, Erin Neufer as Ella Lax, Alex Morf as Craig Becker, and Brooks Brantly as the Janitor and the readings movement consultant.
Read the full article about this new play at Climate Week NYC 2025 at Food Tank.