E. T. W. Combatting Common Sense: An Anthology of Scripts
THE SCRIPTS (Excerpts)
The Scripts include:
"The Home Show", presented in schools as part of the Bay Area Restoration Council's planting programme. It was presented following an introductory lecture by a representative of BARC, and followed by discussion in small groups.
"Perfect Paradise", presented in schools in 1995, followed by discussion in small groups.
"Pond. James Pond" (The Carp and Biotic Recovery). Workshopped in 1993-4.
"Finley and Scales". Workshopped in 1993-4.
The Home Show
Perfect Paradise
Kill Water
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[Excerpt]
#1 -<in a monotonous voice> Hi, we are ETW and we're very excited to be here. Before I begin, here are a few rules for you to follow. Number 1, no smiling, that means you <pointing at someone>. Number 2, definitely no laughing <a stare>. Number 3, no breathing, I need all the available air for my performance. <#'s 2/3/4/5/,who are planted in the audience decide they don't like what #1 is doing, so they sneak up behind #1 while she/he is still speaking>.
I'm here to talk to you about the environment. The environment is everthing around us, that includes all plants, animals, the air, ground and water. We should all try to help the environment. To do this we should all reduce, reuse and recycle.< #1 is turned off on the last word, picked up, turned around and dismantled for repair, during which #2 explains>
#2 - We are experiencing some technical difficuties with one of our actors. Please bear with us, the repairs should take only a few moments and then the real performance can begin. <#1 has been repaired and is about to be turned back on>. It looks like we are ready to start again.<#1 is turned on>
#1 - <excited> Hi ! We are ETW.
#3 - That's the Environmental Theatre Workshop.
#5 - An environment can be a small thing.
#4 - Like the place you live, your home.
#2 - And places that are even smaller.
#1 - Like my room.
#5 - Smaller than that.
#4 - A fish aquarium.
#3 - My lunch box.
#1 - Oh ! Oh ! Like the inside of my mouth <tries to talk with tongue out>
#4 - The environment can also be a big place.
#2 - Like the neighborhood around your home.
#3 - Or cities which are made up of many neighborhoods.
#5 - And the creeks, marshes and lakes all over the province.
#1 - The whole world is my environment !
#5 - No matter how big or small each environment is a home for somebody or something.
#2 - The play we are presenting today is about Hamilton Harbour, Coote's Paradise and the cities and towns next to them.
#3 - The places we call home.
< 1,2 and 5 create a moving tableau of a marsh. #3 moves into the audience >
#4 - Hundreds and hundreds of years ago there were all sorts of plants and animals living in this area. Imagine, no houses or streets, just forests, meadows and bodies of water, brimming with life. It was the perfect place for the people of the First Nations to hunt and gather food. Look ! < pointing at #3 who is gathering berries in the audience. #4 joins the marsh>
#3 - < singing > Picking up berries and put them in the basket, Picking up berries and put them in the basket, < moving to D.S. of marsh tableau. > Mmmm, there sure are lots of good berries around here. This place is great, I love it here. The area around my village where my family and friends live is beginning to run out of good places to hunt and fish. Maybe this place could be our new home. It has lots of food and plenty of room < starting to swat bugs > and for some strange reason nobody lives here. I wonder if it has a name.
#1,2,4,5 - < out of character > Canada !
#3 - I know that. But where is it exactly, so I can find it again and bring my family and friends.
#4 - You're at the bay.
#1 - At the tip of the lake.
#2 - In a marsh.
#5 - With us reeds.
#4 - And arrowheads.
#2 - And cat-tails.
#1 - And water lilies.
#3 - Yes, but does it have a name ?
#1,2,4,5 - We call it home. < starting to crowd #3 >
#3 - There are so many of you. I can hardly see.
#4 - It's crowded and very comfortable.
#1 - We like it like this.
#3 - I,m hungry. Do you have any berries for me to eat ?
#2 - I'm sorry, we don't.
#5 - But we do provide food for fish.
#3 - Fish ? I don't see any fish.
#4 - Look closer and you'll see millions of fish.
#3 - Millions of fish ?
#1,2,4,5 - Go talk to the fish.
#3 - I don't see any fish < moving D.S. , looking in audience for fish > How can I talk to the fish if I can't even see them. < U.S. the marsh plants have transformed into fish > Here fishy, fishy, fishy < turning U.S. and sees fish > Wow ! Look at all those fish.
#4 - Hi, I'm sunfish.
#1 - I'm laketrout.
#2 - My name is pike !
#5 - And I'm muskie.
#3 - I didn't know there were so many different kinds of fish in these waters, < swatting bugs > or so many bugs !
#5 - Yeah it's great isn't it. < eyeing dead bug on #3's arm > Are you going to eat that ?
#3 - Be my guest. < #5 picks up bug, throws it in the air, #1 jumps up and swallows it, followed by general sounds of approval > Brrrr. The water is so cold in here, how can you stand it ?
#2 - It's the perfect temperature for us.
#3 - With all these plants in the water it's hard to see and ALL THESE BUGS !
#1 - That's the whole point. This is our home.
#4 - < taking #3 by the hand and moving D.S.R.> Over here is our kitchen.
#2 - < taking #3 to D.S.C.> This is my bedroom.
#5 - < taking #3 to D.S.L.> And this is the nursery where we hide our eggs from the snapping turtles.
#2 - Oh, Oh ! There goes our school. We need to get going or else we'll be late. < 1,2,4,5 form a line U.S.C. from left to right and pretend to exit by zig zagging left to right while moving further U.S.>
#3 - Okay, bye ! Well this sure is a beautiful spot, a wonderful home for the plants and fish. But with all these bugs I'm not so sure this would make a good new home for my village. I think I'll try and find some higher and drier ground.<as #3 exits, joining 2,4,5 U.S., #1 moves to D.S.C. as narrator >
#1 - The people of the First Nations did find other places to live so the area around the bay continued to be home for the plants and fish for a very long time. Meanwhile, across the ocean, over in Europe, people were looking for new places to live. They heard about this vast country and it's natural resources. Many of them came to this area to build new homes and raise their families, but the very first to arrive were the explorers. < one at a time 2,3,4,5 go to D.S.C. carrying an imaginary flag.>
#5 - I claim this land for England !
#3 - I claim this land for France !
#2 - I claim this land for Italy !
#4 - I claim this land for Portugal !
#2,3,4,5 <plant their flags inthe ground at the same time > O oh! <they begin fighting for possession> Mine ! I was here 1st
#1 - Well Canada quickly became very popular, and since many of the people wanted the same land they had to learn how to share. Eventually they worked it out. <the explorers are still fighting > I SAID eventually they worked it out ! < they stop fighting and slowly begin to shake hands > And learned how to work together. It was a tough life for the early pioneers. Some didn't survive but many more did and went on to become prosperous land owners. In fact they were so successful that more and more people from all over the world were coming to Canada and make it their home. < 2,3,4,5 become foxes running single file > Villages became towns and towns grew into cities and as they grew the forests and wetlands around them became smaller destroying the homes of the animals that lived in them. Here are some of those animals now. < the foxes are now D.S.C. > I think they're foxes. Hey foxes! < foxes freeze> What are you doing? < foxes relax >
#2 - Whew ! it's just you. We thought you were one of those farmers. You know, before the farmers came these were big open fields.
#4 - Yeah, there were lots of places to live and plenty to eat.
#5 - You see farmers have tractors with ploughs that dig up the fields and wreck our homes.
#3 - At least they have chickens on their farms and they're nice and tasty.
#2 - We decided to move our home down by the creek. Problem is every time it rains the water just runs off the fields. Then the creek floods and our den is washed out.
#1 - What are you going to do ?
#3 - We're not sure. We have to find a new home.
#4 - But every where we go there is a city close by.
#5 - And foxes don't like cities. < general agreement>
#1 - Well good luck in finding your new home.
#2 - Thank you.
#3 - We've got to get going, Bye.
#5 - Yep got to go. <does not move until the rest have left> Oops.
< 2,3,5 climb into a canoe >
#1 - I suppose we all have to move once in a while. It's too bad the foxes have to move all the time. < 2,3,5 start paddling>
#4 - Big boats and big factories, every where I go, big boats and big factories. All I want is just a bit of water so I can build a dam , raise the water level a bit, then build myself a nice lodge where I can raise a family. What is a beaver to do ?
#1 - I suppose your feeling a little, trapped !
#4 - Traps ! Don't talk to me about traps. My grandfather told me all about traps. No, todays problem is boats and factories. I'm not talking about little boats like canoes or row boats. It's those huge self unloading lake freighters crashing through my dams to get to those factories. Why if I had a nickle for every broken dam I could afford to build myself the biggest lodge in the bay.
#1 - What's a lodge ?
#4 - A house, a home, a place to rest your tail.
#1 - So where are you going to go now ? <2,3,5 stop paddling>
#4 - I'm headed up north . Pike, muskie and laketrout left a long time ago and I hear the foxes may be leaving soon as well.
#1 - It seems like everyone is looking for a new home. < #2 as an eagle, swoops past #1 > Yikes ! What was that ? Wow it's an eagle. Hey eagle ! What are you doing ?
#2 - I'm looking for a place to build a new nest. < 3,4,5 start to chop and saw down trees > The problem is I can't seem to find a tree that's tall enough. You have to understand that us birds of prey build our homes to last our entire lives and only at the top of really tall trees. I think I may be wasting my time looking around here. From way up here in the sky, I could see it all happening. First all the tall trees were cut down for boat building and telephone poles. Then the shorter trees were cut down for lumber to build houses. It's true that trees are being replanted but what I am supposed to do in the meantime. < 3, 4,5 cover their ears as the trees crash to the ground > I think I'll go up north and see if there are any tall trees left up there. Bye
Workshopped by the Environmental Theatre Workshop
Taras Cymbalisty - Dramaturge
Scene : An invisible character known as the Mysterious Message Sender mimes the following actions : M.M.S. picks up a handfull of dirt, inspects it ; sniffs the air ; tastes a handful of water. The situation is not good. Sends 4 messages through the air.
Scene : Four animals living in different habitats around Cootes Paradise receive the messages sent by M.M.S. Carp gets the message from inside a returnable bottle ; Raccoon finds the message in a discarded plastic toy ; Seagull discovers the message on a newspaper littering the air ; Turtle receives the message in a floating fast-food container. Their reactions are communicated in the form of their own species.
The message states :
TURTLE : You can have your own perfect paradise , if ...
SEAGULL : ...you have wings , fins ,legs or a tail and ...
RACCOON : ...come to Princess Point on [ todays date ] 10 minutes before sunrise to ...
CARP : ...answer one skill testing question which is...
TURTLE : ... " What is your most secret wish come true ? "
SEAGULL : What a breeze ! I have a thousand wishes. Picking just one will be no problem.
CARP : I was going to go for a swim in the harbour but this looks like the chance I've been waiting for.
RACCOON : I wonder if any body else got this message. If I get there first maybe the wish will be all mine.
TURTLE : It's a good thing I live at Princess Point otherwise I might never get there on time.
[ they all travel to their destination point and arrive simultaneously ]
SEAGULL : What are all of you doing here ?
RACCOON : I came here to claim my prize.
CARP : Looks like we're all here for the same reason.
RACCOON : But first you have to answer the skill testing question.
TURTLE : So, what is your most secret wish come true ?
SEAGULL : That's easy. I want a world full of french fries!
Mountains and mountains of greasy french fries piled up to the sky.
CARP : Where are you going to get french fries ?
SEAGULL : People are always leaving little bits all over the place. In fact I have a poem on the topic. [clears throat] The French Fry You can find them on park benches Or lying on the the street Unusual places like the bottom of feet You can spot them in car lots And on sandy beaches I'll get them wherever My long beak reaches.
TURTLE : Cool.[everyone nods in agreement]
CARP : French fries remind me of my favourite food.
RACCOON : And that would be..?
CARP : Worms ! What we need is lots of worms. [singing] Worms, glorious worms, how I like to eat them. Big ones fat ones, short little juicy ones, long ones, thin ones, shiny, slippery slurrpy ones. Hmmmmmmm, worms. My world would be one huge can of worms.
TURTLE : Cool. [all agree again]
RACCOON : Yeah, yeah ! French fries, worms ...or even better, tons and tons of leftovers and.... garbage.
CARP : Garbage ? Isn't that rather stinky.
RACCOON : Yeahhh. Just imagine. The streets... full of garbage. All the backyards and parks... full of garbage. Every home, every school, every building, all... full of rotting garbage. And me...its all for me. I'd walk through my garden of garbage testing this [smells] and tasting that [eats] and its all for me. That's my perfect world.
[All look to the Turtle for a comment]
TURTLE : [slowly] Ooops, sorry. I fell asleep for the last one.
CARP : O.K. Turtle we've all made our wish, now its your turn.
SEAGULL : And hurry up about it !
RACCOON : So... what's it going to be ?
TURTLE : Bugs.
SEAGULL : That's it ? That's all you can think of, that's all you want ?
TURTLE : Yep.
RACCOON : There must be more you want, like bugs filling the sky.
TURTLE : Nope.
SEAGULL : Ah, I think my friend is mistaken. You'd like bugs filling the water.
TURTLE : Nope.
CARP : Excuse me but I think the bugs wold prefer to cover the land. [ All but Turtle stare each other down , then turn to Turtle and ask ] WELL ?
TURTLE : ....... Actually, I don't mind the occasional baby carp, seagull egg or even sleeping raccoon... if I could move fast enough.
ACTION IMPROV - All begin arguing , first in English, which turns into animal sounds at which point all move away from each other. Message Sender mimes action to stop them and draw them all back together.
SEAGULL : Who did that ? Was it you Raccoon ?
RACCOON : It wasn't me, but something FISHY is going on here. It was you , wasn't it !!?
CARP : No, I didn't do it ! So.. if I didn't do it or you or you... it must have been...
ALL : YOU !! [pointing at turtle]
TURTLE : Nope , wasn't me. [ they all search for the force that pulled them back together] I think we're running out of time. Instead of worrying and arguing about what just happened, we had better figure out what our one true wish is going to be.
SEAGULL : Well, I know what I want and that's that ! Give me fries or give me death.
CARP : Wait ! Can I change my wish ?
RACCOON : Oh Carp ! We don't have much time.
SEAGULL : Yeah, if you have to change it, hurry up.
CARP : I...I...I...
ALL : I what ?!!
CARP : Eyes !! I want eyes ...all over me...so I can see everything... everywhere. [manifesting wish]
RACCOON : Heyyyy. that's not a bad idea. Yeah... yeah maybe garbage isn't what I what after all. Yeah, I know , I know ! What I need is bigger claws ...so I can grab more food at once. [manifesting wish]
SEAGULL : I would looove to have bigger wings ...so I can fly faster and control more of the sky. [manifesting wish]
TURTLE : Faster... Hmmm. I wouldn't mind being able to move faster either.
ALL : Yeah... that would be nice...we think.
ACTION IMPROV - All begin to exaggerate their new abilities which leads to physical chaos. MESSAGE SENDER shakes her head in disbelief and taps her watch.
RACCOON : Wait a minute !! I know we may be running out of time ... but I don't think that bigger claws are what I REALLY want. These big claws are good for garbage cans but when I try to eat a chunk of food I end up cutting into pieces too small to pick up.
CARP : Now that you mention it with eyes all around me, I can see everything but I don't know where I'm going. I've got so many points of view that I've lost all sense of direction.
SEAGULL : Well that's just great, just absolutely fabulous. Here we have the opportunity of a life time, a chance to create a perfect environment for ourselves and we don't even know what we want. Hrumph ! These wings may be great in the air but a darn nuisance on the ground.
TURTLE : My head hurts. I keep crashing into things. I can move fast now, I just don't know how to stop. Besides, I'll never be able to move faster than time and that's exactly what we're running out of. Look over there, to the east and tell me what you see.
CARP : [terrified] The carp barrier.
TURTLE : Farther.
RACCOON : [horrified] The highway.
TURTLE : Farther !
SEAGULL : [petrified] The smoke stacks.
TURTLE : Alright, it's clear you need a new perspective, one that's closer to the ground. Everyone lie down beside me [ they all do so] , now tell me what you see.
ALL : Ahhhhhhhhhh !! It's sunrise.
TURTLE : Don't panic. By my calculations, given the colour of the sky, the angle of the north star to the setting moon and the subtle change in wind velocity...
CARP : Enough already. How much time have we left ?
TURTLE : One minute thirty -seven seconds.
RACCOON : Where did you learn to tell time like that ?
TURTLE : I may not be fast, but I'm not slow.
SEAGULL : O.K. This is it. I want the whole world to be sky.
CARP : Well that might be difficult because I would wish for the world to be all water.
RACCOON : You had all better get used to a world of land, that's my wish. [Seagull and Raccoon look at each other in disbelief]... I'd still want you all to live with me.
CARP : No thanks, too dark.
SEAGULL : Too dry.
TURTLE : And I need land, water and sky to survive as do all three of you. [general grudging agreement] There is however, something we don"t need... People.
SEAGULL : Hey... I think your on to something there.
CARP : I like it, I like it. And there's just too many of them. Always snooping around the shore line, throwing junk into the water, with their ...PET DOGS.
RACCOON : Yeah dogs, the sneaky traitors. All people want to do is build roads everywhere over everything, especially killer highways.
SEAGULL : Whatever isn't covered with roads seems to be covered with houses, factories and office towers. It's getting to the point where I can't find a place to build a nest.
CARP : So Turtle, your'e kind of quiet. What's your view on people ?
TURTLE : Uh...er...um ... To tell you the truth ...uh... I've never seen people before. I thought they were imaginary creatures like monsters in stories or space aliens.
CARP : Oh they're real.
RACCOON : And they're not going away.
SEAGULL : I'm always running into them.
RACCOON : You're lucky, they're always almost running over me.
CARP : Let me tell you about people. A very interesting species. Once they have found a place to live they very rarely seem to move. It's like they get stuck or something.
SEAGULL : And when they stop moving they start breeding and swarming like... insects. Disgusting.
RACCOON : In away, you have to feel sorry for them. They only have two legs.
SEAGULL : HEY !
RACCOON : Sorry, and no wings. Maybe that's why they drive around in cars, at least that way they have four tires.
CARP : Yeah, poor self esteem.
SEAGULL : I think they do have feelings. They've even started building some islands in the bay for me to nest on. People make a mess of things and then they try to fix it up. They're funny that way.
CARP : Talk about funny, I wouldn't even be here had they not brought over my ancestors from the other side of the world.
RACCOON : And that's people ! [ All look to Turtle for a reaction]
TURTLE : I'm hungry.
CARP : Hmmm. Me too.
SEAGULL : I know a great place to eat on the other side of the marsh. There's a bunch of areas full of food wrapped up in fences.
RACCOON : Maybe they're presents from the people, trying to be friendly.
CARP : Sounds good to me. [They all begin to exit ]
SEAGULL : Hey look, the sun's up. [ All look ]
TURTLE : Cool. [ All exit ]
One ETW performance includes three parts, each of which involves the audience/class to a different degree.
A. After introductions and an explanation of the programme, the cast performs a short Compilation of Historical Monologues in front of the audience. The Historical Monologues developed by ETW for performance in the open air by a travelling audience are here cut down and delivered chronologically.
B. "The Map", a illustrated lecture, is delivered. The audience is moved into a circle around the map, and is invited to ask questions, and to walk over it.
C. For "Kill Water", the group then divides the audience into four for a participatory event.
The Compilation of Monologues was largely improvised; there is therefore no script. The other two parts of the performance are recorded below. THE MAP
[The Map is an illustrated lecture using an ETW prop created by Lauren McKinley. This is a canvas painted map of Hamilton Harbour. The base map shows the Harbour as it appeared just before first settlement. There are attachments that are laid over the base map at appropriate points in the lecture.
This is a simple device, and any reader will imagine that the same information might be delivered to an audience using and overhead projector and transparencies, or slides, or posters. This is of course true, and more people would "see" the map/s. The difference, in the performance of the lecture, is in the map itself. Its physical qualities--obviously handmade--make it more user-friendly, and more touchable. The fact that it lies on the ground changes the relationship between the audience and the lecturer/map. They stand around in a circle, straining to see, and are allowed to walk on it at some point (to be determined by the lecturer). It is a matter of degree only, but this map invites greater physical participation.
This lecture can be delivered in any context. Typically it has been used by ETW as the second part of a three-part participatory presentation, "Kill Water". It provides a visual context.]
Lecturer: [who can embellish or abridge, and should ask questions such as "Where do you live on this map?" etc. The Lecturer must be sensitive to the experience of the audience. That is, you should not repeat the experience of getting to the end and discovering that some members do not know what a "map" is, what "Hamilton Harbour" is in relation to their own private ecosystem--house, yard, street. Some will have no sense of the scale. These explanations are not included in what follows, but should be communicated in the event.]
In the year 1600 this area was basically untouched by humans [#1]. The Neutral Indians used the bay as summer fishing grounds and explorers such as Brule and La Salle had passed through on their way to other destinations. The area was beautiful, surrounded by the cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment with several streams emptying into the south side of the bay. The marsh was full of plants like bulrushes, arrowheads and cattails [green cheesecloth]. Soon people started moving into the area. In the 1780s and 1790s Richard Beasley and Robert Land built houses along the road from Toronto. They cleared land for growing food and spent a great deal of time hunting duck, geese, wild turkey, woodcock, and tern. They fished for bass, pike, perch, herring, salmon and sturgeon.
By 1850 the Head of the Lake was becoming well populated. To accommodate the new settlers, forests were cleared to make room for houses, stores, banks, farms, and of course the train.#2 The clearing of the trees for the new community left the soil exposed to the wind and the rain, which washed it into the bay. The train brought even more people to the area and many of the streams on the south shore were blocked as tracks were put down. The changes to the landscape were permanent.
By the turn of the Century the bay was known as Hamilton Harbour. Industry was growing and more and more inlets along the south shore were filled in.#3 Hamilton had experienced several population explosions and the water in the bay began to feel the effects. Careless shoreline industries allowed ash, coal dust, iron filings, and mercury into the air and water. People who didn't know any better allowed animal and human waste, as well as their garbage, into the harbour. Cholera, a disease caused by dirty water, was all around. The once beautiful waters were now unfit to drink.
As the current century progressed, industry grew along the south shore of the harbour. By 1959 industry started to move out into the harbour. Once, as a coal boat was being unloaded, some coal was spilled right here, and what's called a hot spot #5 was formed. This is an area where the water is warmer and more toxic than other areas. Plants and fish are deformed, mutated, or even killed.
All households now had electric fridges to keep their food cool, cars and houses had air conditioners. All of these had freon which escaped into the atmosphere destroying the ozone layer. As farmers competed for bigger and better crops, more powerful and environmentally dangerous chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides were created. As man's demands for production grew, so did his carelessness, and many more marsh plants died. (add brown cheese cloth)
By 1969 industry had "reclaimed" even more of the harbour as the south bank [#6] had become almost filled with warehouses and factories. The harbour was so polluted with suspended silt and toxins that the water was hazardous to touch. [orange cheese cloth] Something had to be done immediately before it was too late. The aquatic life of Hamilton Harbour and the marsh was all but dead.
In 1994 we have clean crisp lines full of docks all along the south shore. It is the ninth biggest harbour in North America. On the north shore there are suburbs, cemeteries, and a golf course. #7 The east shore contains a super-highway and two sewage treatment plants. #8 These plants filter out the phosphate which help algae to grow. They also filter out suspended solids from our sewage and attempt to put clean water only into the harbour. The water is not nearly as poisonous as it was in the 1960s (scrunch up the orange cloth), but we have a very long way to go. There are still bad things in the harbour such as garbage, silt build-up, muck being dredged up by the carp and chemicals that are not easily filtered out of the storm drains--such as motor oil, transmission fluid, anti-freeze, solvents, and paint. Kill Water
A brief description. The "audience" is divided into four: WATER SMOG SUSPENDED SOLIDS TOXIC WASTE ("ALGAE" ALSO USED)
I. THE GROUP CHARACTER:
An ETW member is assigned to each group. Each group has a representative cloth. The groups, on their own, do some basic warm-up exercises and games, if there is time. They talk about what their group "character" is like, and they develop a sound and a movement that everyone can do together. Brief examples follow, although results depend on the group:
Suspended Solids: Sound: "We're pee and poop! We contaminate the water and make it yucky!" Movement: Heavy, Low, Slow.
Water: Movement: graceful, flowing, waving of arms slowly.
Sound: "I feel great." A chorus of "Splish Splash..." Of course the ETW adviser should help to develop these; but the best results come when the participants feel they've invented them. The Sounds and Movements can be developed by (a) talking to them about a list of characteristics for their "character"; (b) helping to break down these characteristics into specific sounds and movements (heavy, light, slow, fast, loud, soft); and (c) trying them out. A basic list of sound-and-movement breakdown is attached, that can be used. Sometimes abstract works, sometimes real words and imitative movements.
II. THE ACTION:
Another member of ETW acts as "Ringleader". He talks through the action. The three pollutant-groups place themselves in a circle, with Water in the middle. The Ringleader talks the group through the history of the Harbour, at appropriate points moving the pollutants in. He can stop and start the sound-and-movement on command. He regularly stops and asks "Water" how it feels. It answers, as appropriate: "I feel great." and "I'm scared." and "argh, I'm dying." The groups move in toward Water, and, when the Ringleader instructs them, each cloth in turn is thrown over water. The narration of the Ringleader is improvised, within a scenario including the history of the polluting of the harbour, as long as he/she controls the movement of the groups, and as long as he/she stops at four intervals to ask how Water is doing.
Sample narration: "Okay, it's 1600 and the bay is filled with fish and plants. Cootes Paradise is a marsh. There thousands of ducks and geese and huge fish, and the only people around are the Neutrals, who respect nature. Every thing is blue and green.
Hey, water, how do you feel?
In the middle of the 17th century explorers began arriving--Brule, LaSalle, and with them people new to the area. Brebeuf, Governor Simcoe, Thomas Coote, Richard Beasley, Robert Land, Ann Morden. When these people came they cleared the land, built roads and houses, and--oh, yes--they created sewage, and suspended solids were introduced to the area. The smoke from the many houses and from the blacksmith caused the air to become dirtier--and that was the beginning of smog. And foreign substances, too, were found on the hulls of boats, which were also added to the water in the early stages of toxic waste.
Hey, water, how do you feel?
Then there was an industrial revolution. Factories springing up everywhere--Dominion foundries, Canada Brick, National Rail Car--all of them spewing up smoke into the air, pouring pollution into the water and surrounding land. More and more people and more and more sewage now created havoc in the bay. Hey water, how do you feel?
[The final tirade would include just about everything you can think of about pollution today, only exaggerated, out of control. Water becomes weaker and weaker, sicker and sicker. The Pollutants are very happy to be killing Water.] Hey water, how do you feel?"
The Ringleader's words depend on the audience, and the time available. If some historical monologues, are not introduced first, for example, then of course the mention of historical figures is inappropriate. If the Map is not introduced first, then some of this information would be incorporated into the Ringleader's speech.
III. THE BIG COMEBACK
Water is "dead"--the group is covered by the cloths. The Ringleader has all groups sit down. He explains to them that it took water "hundreds of years" to die. What do we do? Can we make it come back? Is it totally dead? Are there signs of life? Maybe there are some squeaks and a little movement from under the cloths. The Ringleader asks for suggestions about what to do to make water come back again. The participants give suggestions, and as they do, some of the cloth is pulled back.
These suggestions may be small (recycling, don't flush the toilet as much), or extreme (don't go to the bathroom!). Anything shows thought, and counts. The ETW advisers can, however, offer other suggestions as appropriate.
Finally, Water is free of the pollutant-cloths, and lives again. A discussion follows, if there is time. APPENDIX #1: HOW TO GUIDE THE PARTICIPANTS
ACTING WARM-UPS Physical: stretches, jogging, sunrise salutations, arm swings, pancake stretches, shake-out, balloons, hokey-pokey, press-ups. Vocal: bubblegum, squish/stretch face, tongue out and count, motorcycle sounds, ah's, twisters, breathing
EXERCISE EXPLANATION Character definition Who, What, Where Progression of exercise The Ringleader's role Respect for the other groups (keep quiet)
WHAT MAKES YOU... Ask what their character is made of: ie, water--fish, plants smog--cars, factories toxic waste--soap, chemicals suspended solids--oil, dirt, sewage Get each of the participants to do a movement and sound for each of the answers: "What sort of noises? How does a car move? How do you show a person in a shower?"
GROUP RESPONSES Ringleader, by way of introduction: "Who are you?" to each in turn. Try to come up with several different responses, for each time the Ringleader asks. APPENDIX #2: ABSTRACT MOVEMENT It might help to guide the group by breaking down their movements and sounds into some of the the following. How does a suspended solid move? slow, light, indirect/wandering (maybe). How does smog sound? Loud, low, and slow?
Six Directions UP/ DOWN WIDE/ NARROW FORWARD/ BACK Laban Movement FAST/ SLOW LIGHT/ HEAVY INDIRECT [Wandering]/ DIRECT [Knows where it's going]
Pace Weight Direction FLOAT...............slow...........light...............indirect SLASH...............fast...........heavy...............indirect GLIDE...............slow...........light...............direct WRING...............slow...........heavy...............indirect DAB.................fast...........light...............direct THRUST..............fast...........heavy...............direct FLICK...............fast...........light...............indirect PRESS...............slow...........heavy...............direct
Applied to Voice Pitch Volume Tempo high...........loud................fast high...........loud................slow high...........soft................fast high...........soft................slow low............loud................fast low............loud................slow low............soft................fast low............soft................slow