Science and potential disaster you would’ve thought are tricky subjects to portray in an entertaining way on stage. That is not stopping Chantal Bilodeau from trying. In fact, she plans to do so eight times, one for each of the circumpolar nations (countries with borders that surround the poles).

Bilodeau’s aim is to “open a space for a conversation that’s not so political, where people can be engaged without being so polarized.”

Her first play took place in northern Canada, titled Sila, and was performed in English, French and Inuktitut.

Ice covered fjord on Baffin Island with Davis Strait in the back.

After spending three weeks on Baffin Island living with the Inuit there, and learning from the people in the community, she wanted to make the play based on a traditional narrative. But she decided the issues were too complicated. Rather her plays are told from multiple points of view. There’s a climate scientist, an Inuit elder, a member of the coast guard and a polar bear and her cub amongst others.

Two productions of Sila have already been mounted in the USA, and her next play, called Forward, focusing on Norwegian stories is set to premiere later this year.

 

With her plays, Bilodeau is fusing together complex science and art to paint a picture of how climate change is really affecting a vast array of people right now. Read our interview with her in Canadian Wildlife magazine, Jul + Aug 2015 edition.

 

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