With concerns that human pollution will push the state of the natural world so out of control to the point where it threatens humanity’s very continued existence, he said people need some hope in the face of paralysis. He said that hope comes first through laughter, and then through action.

Balzac, a New York City-based playwright who was born and raised in the heart of the Adirondack Park, has been working on the climate doomerism musical comedy “Existential Questions of the 21st Century” for almost a decade. He’ll present it for free and in full for the first time ever at the Saranac Lake Free Library on Sunday at 3 p.m. — accompanied by a forum on climate activism.

He feels the Adirondacks are an epicenter for the climate battle.

The idea for the play came from his own experience with “climate guilt” in college.

Molly Heller performs the concert version of “Existential Questions of the 21st Century” at Green Room 42. A full performance of the climate doomerism musical will be presented at the Saranac Lake Free Library on Sunday at 3 p.m. (Provided photo — Travis Emery)

“In college, I was really interested in the depressing side of it and the funny, absurdist side of it,” Balzac said.

Climate doomerism was an absurd, niche idea at the time, he said. But now he sees it taking hold in an alarming way.

In 2016, his friends were occupying the Columbia University president’s office, demanding the college divest from fossil fuels. These sit-ins were ultimately successful in getting the university to pledge to end its investments in coal, oil and gas companies, but the college has also been criticized for still investing in these industries through loopholes.

“I was feeling really bad, because I had play rehearsals and I couldn’t do that,” Balzac said. “The initial show was borne out of this feeling of climate guilt.”

He was pursuing a career in the arts, and while feeling guilty that he couldn’t participate in all the activism going on around him, he wanted to contribute to the movement through art. His feelings have evolved over the years. Eventually, he felt that wasn’t enough, and he got involved in direct activism, volunteering with the Public Power campaign through his involvement with the Democratic Socialists of America. The campaign seeks to deliver public, affordable renewable electricity to everyone in the state.

There, he learned there’s a need for communication through media and the arts to get people engaged in these sorts of campaigns. Through volunteering, he said he found his purpose.

“Existential Questions” has had several iterations. He did a shorter version of the play in college and a concert version at Green Room 42 in New York City.

He set the musical down for a bit as he worked on other projects, including reinterpreting the Robert Louis Stevenson novella “The Wrong Box” in Saranac Lake in 2023.

When he was awarded a state Council on the Arts grant, it was a time to revisit “Existential Questions.”

“It forced me to work on the show,” Balzac said of the grant with a laugh.

It was a little daunting for him to return to the script he had worked on for so long, but in doing so, he said he added new themes and messages he’s picked up in the years since he first wrote it.

A lot of the script is brand-new, he said.

Comedy is his favorite genre. When it comes to climate change dread, he said it’s easy to feel depressed and overwhelmed at the lack of action on such an important issue. He feels he has to laugh at the absurdity to be able to engage in the work to improve things.

“If we can’t laugh at ourselves, like, what can we do?” he asked. “The point of comedies is to poke fun at things, but also to see the hope.”

The play is set at “Existence Con,” like Comic-Con for climate doomers — people who believe the world is ending, there’s nothing to do about it and that it’s actually a good thing since humans have been terrible for the planet.

“A panel of snobbish intellectuals is interrupted by rebel activists who take aim at the shadowy corporations propping up a pessimistic view of humanity to ensure reliable profit margins,” a description of the plot says.

These activists argue that the destruction of the climate is not the natural state of things.

Molly Heller plays an activist with a major phone addiction who wants to “stick it to the man” but isn’t the greatest at talking to people where they’re at.

Balzac himself plays Eugene Halpert, the egotistical CEO who runs the conference. He said he wanted to cast himself as the antagonist.

“I never get to play villains,” he said.

Between the first and second acts of the play, an actual panel of people from climate and environmental activist groups Protect the Adirondacks, Third Act and Public Power NY will have a discussion about climate action, moderated by the Wild Center’s Jen Kretser. Balzac said he wanted to have this panel in the middle of the play because he believes it’s important for people to see it. He also has plans to tie in the real-life panelists to the satirical doomerist panel in the show and blur the line between the two.

The performance at the library’s Cantwell Room is free, but reservations are requested by emailing existentialquestionsmusical@gmail.com or by calling 518-487-0041.

A press release for the show says it “incorporates mature content and is not recommended for children.”

Balzac said a mix of professional local performers and actors from New York City will be putting on the production, including Jen Chia, Fernanda Douglas (who is also serving as music director), Hannah Eakin, Molly Heller, Bill McColgan, Tyler Nye and Chanel Teabou, with Courtney Knysch serving as stage manager.

Balzac said he wants the audience to find some hope, maybe join the groups in the intermission panel and to engage with activism, not shut themselves off with the notion that things are hopeless.

“Getting directly involved in a campaign that you believe in is really good for personal anxiety and feelings of hopelessness. I’ve been finding a lot of peace in knowing I’m playing a small part in tangibly making the world a better place to live in,” he said, referencing his work with Public Power NY. “Art-making, media and messaging are sorely lacking in climate activism. I’m hoping this musical is an opportunity to bring people into this fight who are not yet engaged or who are feeling the bad news burnout and need a way back in to getting involved.”