American environmentalist honoured in solo theatre piece

Senior figures from theatre and dance have come together to premiere an environmental work in Wellington City community centres.

Silent Spring Revisited, running to October 9, aims to develop local community through art in shared suburban buildings.

Rachel Carson, the great American environmentalist, has been in Jan Bolwell’s life since she was nine. Bolwell’s conservationist grandmother introduced her to Carson’s book Silent Spring, which exposed the dangers of the chemical pesticide DDT.

Bolwell revisits this book through adult eyes, creating a solo theatre work on Carson’s fight for nature. Audiences find out about Carson’s struggle to bring the insecticide

issue into the light, and are challenged to consider issues in our own backyard.

New Zealand ecologist Dr Mike Joy is interviewed, and Bolwell has a ‘virtual’ conversation with him during the work.

‘‘We have built this work together in its first iteration, and we are all keen to develop it further in the future,’’ Bolwell said of the crew who worked on the show, including director Annie Ruth, composer Jan Bolton, lighting designer Helen Todd and set designer Trish Stevenson.

In touring local venues, Silent Spring Revisited emphasises that the local level is where we notice the impacts of climate change on our everyday environment, and it is also the place from which we build hope and collective action to address these issues together.

Shows at Linden Community Centre, today and tomorrow; Miramar Community Centre October 9. Tickets $5-$16 through Eventfinda.