First action by XR in Parma GREEN NOT ONLY IN THEATRES

First action by Extinction Rebellion in Parma

GREEN NOT ONLY IN THEATRES

“Everything in the world is a joke” - as the title of the 2025 Festival Verdi states. But the climate crisis is no joke.

2024 was the third hottest year in the last 150 years in Parma and the hottest ever recorded in Emilia-Romagna in over sixty years, with a mean anomaly of +1.6°C according to ARPAE data, but the city claims it will become carbon neutral by 2030.

Science has spoken, but when will a real dialogue between the institutions and the citizens of Parma begin? When will we put a stop to uncontrolled urban development?

Parma needs truth and a future. Come and meet Extinction Rebellion on September 27 at 6 p.m. at ArtLab, Borgo Rodolfo Tanzi 26, kindly hosting: together we can build a more just and livable city.

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The news in Italian

Parma, September 20, 2025 – While the Festival Verdi 2025 is officially inaugurated inside the Teatro Regio in Parma, another scene unfolds outside. A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion Parma takes the floor, flanked by four elegant figures in evening and opera attire holding yellow and black signs reading: “Parma, capital of greenwashing,” “Welcome to Cement Valley,” “The whole world is a joke, extinction is not,” and “+Picasso Food Forest - Roundabouts.” Behind them is a white banner with green lettering: GREEN NOT ONLY IN THEATRES.

Ten people, dressed with the sophistication of a theatre premiere, wear green masks. Her words cut through the buzz of the audience entering the theatre:

"We are Extinction Rebellion Parma. This is our first action and we have chosen to do it here, in front of the Teatro Regio during the Festival Verdi, because we love this city and its culture. The works of Verdi and Shakespeare speak of power, deception, and passion. Today, Parma is following the same script. It dresses itself in green, proclaims itself carbon neutral by 2030, and applies to be the European Youth Capital 2027. But behind the mask there is concrete, extreme heat, threatened forests, and air that is becoming unbreathable. So let's be clear: culture cannot be a facade, it must be a voice of truth. Take off the mask, the time to act is NOW."

Behind and beside her, activists move like living statues, pausing on powerful images: SELF-SABOTAGE, and hands close like suffocating walls; EXTINCTION, and bodies bend to the ground; FOREST, and arms open like branches seeking light; TRUTH, and green masks are lifted and removed, revealing faces marked by deep black circles under the eyes, the perfect image of the evil that lurks behind the facade.

They are not singers on the program, but activists from Extinction Rebellion Parma. They have chosen the irony of theatre and the power of music to unmask greenwashing and say, in front of the Regio, that the climate crisis is no joke. It is EXTINCTION.

The Festival Verdi 2025 celebrates 25 years of the event and focuses on the dialogue between Giuseppe Verdi and William Shakespeare. The program includes new productions of Macbeth and Otello, a restaging of Falstaff, the Verdi Gala with Luisa Miller and Rigoletto, the Messa da Requiem, as well as a city-wide programme of events of Verdi Off, which brings shows and performances outside the theatres, into the squares and neighborhoods of the city.

The scene is the same in front of the nearby Pilotta, another venue of the Festival.

Today's event was the first public initiative in Parma by Extinction Rebellion, an international and decentralized movement that acts in a non-violent way to address the climate and ecological crisis. With this action, the group introduced itself to the city, declaring its intention to expose contradictions and greenwashing, but also to offer constructive criticism and serve the community: providing data, proposing alternatives, and stimulating real dialogue on choices that affect Parma's future.

With elegant signs, written like opera posters, the activists tbrought their dissent into the streets and expressed their willingness to engage in dialogue with citizens, organizations, institutions, and businesses.

The narrator recited phrases that linked the works on stage with scientific data related to the climate crisis and its intersection with Gaza.

Macbeth
“Macbeth pursued power, Parma pursues concrete: in 2021, the province lost 41 hectares of soil. We are SUFFOCATING.” (Legambiente ER – Consumo di suolo).

Falstaff

“Falstaff laughs, but the climate does not: over 12,000 deaths from heat in Italy in 2023. This is no joke, it is EXTINCTION.”

Requiem Mass

“The Requiem is not for Manzoni, but for the Picasso Food Forest threatened by a roundabout. Leave us the FOREST.” (Fruttorti Parma).

Rigoletto

“Rigoletto denounced deception, today deception is the greenwashing of Parma Carbon Neutral 2030: green proclamations while logistics hubs. We ask for one thing: TRUTH.”

Otello

"Otello, blinded by lies, plunges into bloodshed. And on September 21 Parma hosts former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert: there can be no dialogue while a genocide is underway in Gaza. We want JUSTICE"

The climate crisis and war violence are two sides of the same system: both affect the most vulnerable, destroying land, water, and the future. In Gaza, while the population is trapped under bombs, the systematic destruction of the territory and infrastructure causes hunger, thirst, and epidemics: these are the same effects that the climate crisis causes elsewhere with floods and droughts. Together, war and climate change accelerate the loss of lives and rights. This is why we cannot separate them: allegations of genocide documented by Report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry and ecological emergency are part of the same global urgency for justice.

“We are not here to spoil the party,” explain the activists of XR Parma, "but because we love music, culture, and this city. If ‘everything in the world is a joke,’ the real joke today is to call sustainability what actually devastates forests, consumes soil, and worsens the lives of citizens. Parma has pledged Carbon Neutral 2030 and will be European Youth Capital in 2027: we want these titles to have real meaning, not just a facade. We want to contribute to this goal: not a green postcard, but a city that defends the future, for the new generations and for those who live there today. We can build this agenda together so that Parma truly becomes a beacon and a model for the Europe of tomorrow and so that 2027 and 2030 are not just another showcase that paints green over asphalt, while the real green has already been buried.

XR Parma chose to stage a theatrical, ironic, and nonviolent protest, capable of speaking to those who love culture, music, Verdi, and Shakespeare. “Because,” they conclude, “culture cannot be used as a distraction: it must become the voice of truth and an ally of life. Verdi and Shakespeare would agree with us today.”

Passersby were handed cards inviting citizens, institutions, and the press to come and meet Extinction Rebellion Movement on September 27 at 6 p.m. at ArtLab, Borgo Rodolfo Tanzi 26, kindly hosting.

XR's three demands in Parma

Tell the truth – the municipality and institutions must publicly acknowledge the severity of the climate crisis already affecting our region: from the record high of +40.4 °C in August 2023 to the 2023 floods that devastated Emilia-Romagna. No more generic proclamations about ‘Parma Carbon Neutral 2030’: we need transparent information, based on scientific data and accessible to all citizens.

Act now – stop the overbuilding and destruction of green spaces: stop logistics hubs and new roundabouts that destroy biodiversity such as the Picasso Food Forest. Parma must invest immediately in climate adaptation, soil, water, and air protection, and in a real emissions reduction plan.

Decide together – establish permanent citizen assemblies on climate and the environment, composed of citizens and supported by the scientific community, with the power to discuss and propose concrete solutions on mobility, energy, land use, and social justice. Do not impose decisions that impact people's lives from above without participatory processes.

Press contacts: info.xrparma@gmail.com | +393483615042

Thanks to all the journalists who have covered us so far:

Uploaded on 18/09/2025