The testimony-driven play is a masterclass in the power of empathy
Photo via University of Victoria.
In late June 2021, 619 deaths were attributed directly to the western heat dome that settled over much of B.C.
In the same month, the town of Lytton burned to the ground after breaking record high heat in B.C. for three days straight, reaching 49.6 C at its peak. Three years later, the town has yet to be rebuilt.
In November 2021, an atmospheric river triggered fatal mudslides and floods that resulted in critical damage to highways, homes, businesses, and agriculture in southern B.C.
When faced with climate disasters as devastating as these, it can be difficult to conceptualize the actual lived experience of the disaster survivors behind the statistics. Eyes of the Beast: Climate Change Disaster Survivor Stories, a Neworld Theatre Production in association with the University of Victoria’s Department of Theatre, offers insight into the tangible, human toll behind these tragic events — which are caused or exacerbated by the effects of climate change.
Eyes of the Beast is adapted from the work of the Climate Disaster Project, an international teaching newsroom based at the University of Victoria that shares the stories of those affected by climate change, founded by Sean Holman. The play, directed by Chelsea Haberlin, considered over 200 testimonials from the Climate Disaster Project, and brought a number of them to the stage at UVic’s own Phoenix Theatre.
Each story is introduced with a projection of the person whose real-life testimony was being portrayed, and followed up with performances by a cast of four who play multiple roles each.
The direction is simple, but extremely effective. The minimalistic set dressing allows for intimacy and directness in the telling of each story. Subtle effects — such as haze during a story of the Lytton disaster combined with projected cellphone footage of a survivor driving through smoke –— drag the audience directly into the scene, entrusting them with the full emotional weight of what it means to have survived these climate disasters.
Eyes of the Beast is structured around four main testimonials: Edith from Lytton, Dian from just outside of Princeton, Carter from Victoria, and an Anonymous source from the Fraser Valley. Through these stories, other testimonials of survivors who faced the same or similar climate disasters naturally branched out to cast a wide net. Through this structure, the play emphasized just how broadly these climate disasters affect people.
In one testimony, a survivor recounts the apologue about the boiled crab who, dying a slow death in gradually heating water, never notices that it’s dying. But, he says, “We don’t speak crab. What if it is screaming?”
Recalling the day during the western B.C. heat dome when his own internal temperature rose to unbearable heights, the survivor, staring up at a spotlight, cries, “I’m boiling alive.”
One man sought refuge in a tunnel while the Lytton fire raged around him. A woman’s car was picked up by the flooding Fraser River with her still inside it. Another survivor travelled industrial Vancouver streets monitoring the health and wellness of sex workers during the heat dome. Each individual story builds on the last to impart the true breadth of the effects of each climate disaster. The folks whose stories were shared in the play reflect the actual demographics of those who are affected by climate disasters –– which is, of course, all of us.
Through the trauma, heartache, and humour of the show — which depicts some of the most dramatic days of its subjects’ lives — it never feels like the point of the show is to shock the audience. Through first-person testimonials, the audience learns about the lives and personalities of these disaster survivors first, and their often-traumatic experiences second.
The play highlights the unimaginable losses associated with fire, flood, and extreme heat — but more importantly, that these are real stories from real people, people who lost everything in an instant. They had lives before, which they continue to live, however differently, after. A student reaches out to Edith and tells her it’s going to be okay. Dian moves into a trailer after losing everything but her memories. Carter’s mother spends days by his side nursing him back to health after he suffers heat stroke.
The focus of this production is not tragedy, it’s humanity. And the ethos of Eyes of the Beast is not shock. It’s empathy.
Eyes of the Beast is also clear that the testimonies it presents aren’t isolated incidents, nor are they uncommon. These few stories were chosen from a catalogue of hundreds of devastating experiences with climate disasters. Eyes of the Beast says: these disasters happened, these are the people who lived through them, and every day, others face similar horrors.
