Reviewed by Frank McKone
September 26
Credits (as recorded by Arts on Tour)
Artistic Director Scott Wright
Head of Design Steve Howarth
Producer Scott Andrew
Writer Alana Valentine
Creative Associate – Puppet Design Gabrielle Paananen
Associate Director Solomon Thomas
Composer/Sound Designer James Brown
Composer/Sound Designer Daniel Herten
Lighting Designer Frankie Clarke
Video Designer Solomon Thomas
Cast Scott Wright, Gabrielle Paananen, Rose Maher, Albert David, Tom Caley (subject to change)
Production Manager Rick Everett
No printed program was available at Canberra Theatre Centre, so I have assumed the company here is the same.
Erth describes the show in this way:
“ARC is a scalable and site-specific participatory theatre work designed around a menagerie of naturalistic critically endangered and extinct animals. Giving the audience small moments of highly intimate, transformational engagement with fragile, vulnerable life, the work will be led by children, who will enable the transition of wonder and preciousness onto participants.
“This is at a time when we are hearing stronger and younger voices speaking up on matters that affect their world. The work is a confrontation with the reality of species extinction, and at the same time, a provocation of hope. These guides are messengers, reminding us of the resilience of nature, our power as individuals to both protect and preserve, and the inherent hope and creative genius of children, who are our future.”
Though I can find no explanation by Erth for the meaning of the title ARC (which has many possible meanings), Scott Wright has written:
“The genesis of arc came about from a creative visioning residency with Healesville Sanctuary in 2016 supported by Zoos Victoria. During my visit I was lucky enough to be taken to where they were breeding Leadbeater’s Possums to increase their number, at a time when their population had been reduced to one small colony of around 30 individuals - the only Leadbeater’s Possums remaining in the world.
“A small furry bundle was placed in my hands, and like lightning it struck me: this moment was charged with empathy and awe. Right then I knew that if everybody could experience this delicate action of holding one of these beautiful creatures in their hands, an intangible connection between two species would be made and their continued protection would continue. Not from guilt from the wrongs we have done, but from love and compassion.”
The show consists of Scott musing out loud, apparently as himself rather than in a recognisably acted role, while the life-size puppets come to life in his loungeroom. I missed how a quite large number of children appeared on stage to participate, which they did with obvious enthusiasm.
This is not theatre which you watch and react to in the ordinary way. It is an experience, the impact of which grows upon you. By the end it is impossible to imagine taking an unemotional rational view of the issue of ‘saving the animals’. The warmth and depth of feeling as Scott winds up with thanks, encouragement and congratulations all round is now an expression of belief in saving the animals.
But from a theatre critic’s point of view I can see the danger of this kind of presentation. It is nearer to a ceremony of religious faith than a drama revealing social understanding. Is ARC, then, good children’s education; or is it – however justified – a form of indoctrination?
Though, in a general sense, I personally support the preservation of native species in their original ecological environments, examples – such as Canberra people refusing to accept the need to cull the local kangaroo population; or the people who believe the wild horses should be left to destroy the Kosciuszko national park environment – suggest to me that even children’s education through drama about preserving species can’t depend entirely on unadulterated love and compassion.
I am not seriously suggesting that ARC is a dangerous exercise. Our fears about global warming are entirely justified. But I am suggesting that Erth may need to create new works for children in which they learn the limits of belief and the value of action using science to understand Earth’s past and hopefully improve our likely future.
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| ARC by Erth, 2024 |
