According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the oceans support more than 50 percent of all life on Earth and cover more than 70 percent of the planet. The oceans are a big deal. In “If You’re Going to Pull A Knife, USAlo,” a theatrical collaborationbetween Carlos Caballero and Elizabeth Doud, the oceans are a big deal, too.

Under the direction Carlos Díaz, the artistic director of Cuba’s most cutting-edge theater company, Teatro El Público, Caballero and Doud take the audience on a deep-sea exploration into the psycho-ecological relationship between a beautiful mermaid and a hunky offshore platform petroleum worker. Like almost all relationships, this one is not a Disney fantasy. Despite the fantastical characters and exquisite staging, “USAlo” is not a love story or even a feel-good story. However, it is an important story, a story that addresses what destroys our planet: plastics pollution caused by USA-style consumerism.

When I first saw a shorter version of “USAlo” during Miami Light Project’s Here & Now festival in March, I was impressed. I was also intrigued by the duo’s use of Samuel Beckett texts as a foundation for “USAlo.”

Yes, we can, and maybe should blame the short-sightedness of our political and economic leaders. However, Doud and Caballero not so subtly point to us, the audience, the consumers, to become conscious of our participation in an economic system that destroys the planet’s ecological system. Caballero and Doud do their part to makes us conscious of this fact. Now it’s time to do our part sometime between Thursday and Saturday, September 8 through 10, 2011 at On.Stage Black.Box Theater at Miami-Dade County Auditorium.

Thursday through Saturday, September 8 through 10, 2011 at 8 p.m., Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 5 p.m. at On.Stage Black.Box Theater at Miami-Dade County Auditorium 2901 W. Flagler St., Miami, Tickets: $20 per performance/$5 discount for students (18 and under) and seniors (65 and over); $50 Miami On Stage Pass (four events). For tickets by phone, call 305.358.5885, or visit www.ticketmaster.com or www.fundarte.us. “If You’re Going to Pull A Knife, USAlo” is part of FUNDarte’s 2011 season. FUNDarte is a Knight Arts grantee.