Olivia Trilogy: Olivia, Medusa, and Deep Time
By Catherine Filloux, Directed by Alice Reagan
AMT Theater | 354 West 45th Street, New York, NY 10036
July 13, 2026 at 7pm
Ever so often, you find yourself grappling with your place in mankind. How can I contribute? What does my existence mean in relation to the planet? Am I lost amongst the sea of helplessness, knowing that the planet is in need of tending, but how can my carbon footprint alone even make a difference if I were to make changes that impact the environment? What is the point of fighting the good fight, knowing you will continuously feel the void as plastic consumption is at an all-time high? For playwright Catherine Filloux, her impenetrable spirit is the tour de force we need right now in the climate justice movement.
Catherine Filloux is an award-winning French Algerian American playwright, librettist and activist whose career has spanned three decades of international work promoting human rights. Her work is inspired by her world travels to high-conflict areas. After a proper interview, we tackled the very inspiration behind her new environmental Olivia Trilogy. We spoke about the motivation behind the pieces and the hard facts that inspired them.
Medusa, the second installment in her trilogy, will have its first public reading on Monday, July 13, 2026, at 7pm. Directed by Alice Reagan with original songs written by composer Karyn Levitt, veteran American actor Jay O. Sanders, known for his expansive theater and movie career, performs as Mister alongside Juilliard and NYU graduate actress Arianna Gayle in the role of Karenna. Karenna is a young caregiver to Mister. After years of painstakingly caring for his demands and eccentricities, she must navigate constant surveillance while maintaining her desire to explore an uncharted oceanic frontier.
Filloux’s own oceanographer father was the first to sail the Atlantic Ocean in a catamaran. From an early age, she has been a passionate advocate against plastic pollution. Medusa is a dedication and honor to her partnership with Norway’s own nonprofit NGO, In The Same Boat, and the largest international advocacy organization focused solely on ocean conservation, Oceana.
In The Same Boat is on a mission to preserve marine life and protect the ocean from plastic pollution. Sailboats cruise the coastline of Norway year-round with volunteers from around the world, comprising a young crew of adults ages 18–25. From cleaning pollution every day, sorting and cataloging findings, to taking water samples to analyze microplastics, you can learn more at https://www.inthesameboat.eco/.
Oceana is the largest international organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Oceana’s mission is to campaign around the globe to protect and restore the world’s oceans. Winning over 350 victories through science-based policies has helped rebuild abundant and biodiverse oceans. You can read more about how to get involved at https://oceana.org/.
What is the value of a clean ocean? Living in a bustling city, we sometimes forget that the ocean, in its vastness, remains largely unexplored, with depths still unknown. Medusa dives into the spirit of the matter in an unconventional twist as a caretaker caring for a high-profiled, ailing client. Playwright Catherine Filloux is not afraid to examine, reflect, and dissect to the heart of the matter. Medusa, as part of the Olivia Trilogy, is a meditation that inspires prompt and swift action. Organizations such as In The Same Boat and Oceana represent the real-world work that inspires Filloux and serves as part of the DNA of Medusa and the Olivia Trilogy.
Catherine Filloux’s environmental trilogy started with a burning question in her heart and soul: How is Generation Z going to navigate inheriting previous generations’ fossil fuel and climate crises? While writing the first play in the series, Olivia, she found herself throwing out the original material. Olivia examines identity and how family lineage can either disrupt or impact future generations. The play centers around the tense relationship between a daughter who has inherited her father’s fossil fuel empire and her mother, who is at odds with her decision. Filloux was haunted by the material. Could a play about a mother and daughter even be a good idea? How would she tackle all the misinformation and lies about the environment affecting Generation Z? She bravely moved forward with the material, pushing past her doubt, and creating what would become a call to action.
In just three short months, Olivia came to fruition. A successful staged reading directed by Elena Araoz, featuring actresses Emily Arancio and Nadia Bowers, took place in February 2026. A Q&A followed with a distinguished panel of climate policy experts, where a discussion about the play and the call to support the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act to reduce plastic consumption took place. You can support and read more about the act here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/pass-the-packaging-reduction-recycling-infrastructure-act?clear_id=true.
Olivia became the foundation for her environmental trilogy, which now consists of Olivia, Medusa, and the upcoming Deep Time, premiering later in 2026. Deep Time became an obsessive concept for her as it explores the environment, solar energy, and humanity’s place within the larger timeline of the planet itself. Also a two-character play, Deep Time focuses on a failing marriage between a physicist and her spouse, a librarian, as they find themselves at the brink of existential differences regarding their purpose, their contributions to the planet, and how those differing perspectives continue to pull them apart. Notable actresses Christine Bruno and Antoinette LaVecchia are set to perform in the upcoming reading. Climate Rights International is the organization in partnership with this piece. The organization works with local and international groups to document how human rights violations contribute to climate change and how climate change contributes to human rights abuses. To learn more, read here: https://cri.org/.
Across Filloux’s trilogy, each play is composed of only two characters, creating an intimate lens through which larger questions of humanity, responsibility, and our relationship with the planet unfold. The presence of two characters allows for a deeply personal exploration of contrasting perspectives, reminding us that even within the overwhelming scale of the climate crisis, change begins through human connection. The Olivia Trilogy serves as an allegory for our personal convictions in this world, not as helpless beings watching the planet pass us by, but as autonomous individuals inherently built with a fervor and passion to contribute, question, and create change.
Filloux pioneers theater as a tangible medium to awaken the passion already present within us, even when that passion has become jaded or overwhelmed by the enormity of where to begin. Through her collaboration with nonprofit organizations and her commitment to bringing real-world movements into conversation with her art, theater becomes more than a means to an end; it becomes the beginning of a new dialogue as soon as audiences walk beyond the theater doors. By bridging deeply personal relationships with the larger environmental movement, Filloux reminds us that meaningful change begins with understanding, connection, and the willingness to become part of something greater. Catherine Filloux is an every-person’s playwright, a torchbearer revealing the light within us as we confront the darkness and discover our own capacity to act.
Editorial by Bianca Lopez.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on July 10, 2026. All rights reserved.