Words by Laura Giannini
Photos by Joseph Dalton
Pilgrim, by Hydra Arts, is an innovative, even daring project.
The brainchild of artistic director, Peter McMaster, it is a project with big heart and an even bigger scope: climate change.
How do we show the effects humans are having on our, ever frailer planet?
Then, how do we portray this on stage?
This is what he, with producers Lottie Barker and Emma Henderson, did.
They put a call out for three young adults, who would travel to Svalbard – one of the fastest warming places on earth – to see the effects of global warming for themselves; on their
return they’d take part in a communication experiment to present their experiences to the public.
The three participants shared their motivations for getting involved.
Calum Darroch said: “I’m studying Environmental Studies at university and am passionate about it.
“I thought shining the light on the climate crisis through art would be more engaging than protests, even though I wasn’t entirely sure what an art performance entailed.”
While Jessica Sweeney brought an artistic eye to the expedition.
She explained: “I’ve always loved anything to do with the arts but struggled to find many opportunities in West Dunbartonshire…
“I applied for the project to collaborate with professionals in the creative industry and meet people who shared a similar passion.
“The opportunity to travel to Svalbard was also a big reason for applying – I don’t think it’s somewhere I would ever have the chance to visit if not for the Pilgrim Project.”
Environmentally Friendly Travel
The Artistic and Production team planned the journey as a slow trip, to allow participants to experience the changing landscapes.
Taking nine trains across eight countries also allowed them to save massively on their carbon consumption.
“By travelling across Europe by train we saved approximately three metric tonnes of carbon…our carbon usage was brought down to about 25kg,” Peter said, underlining how carefully the
entire project was considered.
“It was a four-day journey by train but that would produce far less greenhouse gasses than flying would,” Lottie told me before the show.
“It was important to keep the project on topic. We wanted to show how the things individuals do count within the bigger picture.”
On their return, the entire Hydra Arts team brainstormed for weeks on how to depict the experience on stage.
No simple task considering the issues of environment, different places and travel needing to be displayed in a short time on a static stage.
The result, staged at the Denny Civic Theatre in February was, essentially, a show in two parts: the journey and the impressions each participant was left with.
This was cleverly achieved using the minimum of props and just the three ‘actors’: Calum Darroch, Jessica Sweeney and Meghan Brannigan.
The trio took us through their eco-friendly journey across Europe by projecting and commenting on photos taken enroute.
“Callum, do you remember that man…?”
“This is us at Euston, Meghan do you remember …?”
Simple Yet Effective
The result is an intimate experience in which the actors prompt each other to share memories with the audience as they walk around the theatre.
Meghan explained: “I have an artistic background… this journey has not only given me a platform to express my thoughts on what it is like to live through the climate crisis as a young person, but also experience an entirely new form of artistic expression…
“I wanted to be bold and join in something that would spark a conversation about what is changing…”
The presentation, simple, even homely though it was, surely did that.
After their arrival on Svalbard’s main island, Spitzbergen, the project changed tone.
The actors used film rather than static shots to pull us into their experiences.
They took a sea trip to view Svalbard’s retreating glaciers and interviewed the ship’s Phillipino captain who told them he’s been taking tours to the glacier for 14 years.
In that time “the loss of the icecap is visible to the naked eye. It is disappearing year by year. It used to come down to the sea, now it’s just rocks at the sea. Very sad.”
Vicious Circle
Statistics back up the captain’s observations.
Since 1986 there there has been a loss 800km2 of glacier.
This means animals like polar bears who have evolved to hunt on the ice are facing a serious decline in numbers.
They are being forced into confrontational behaviours with the expanding human settlements which have grown almost 300% since 1990.
Since the homes are heated by coal – though there is a plan to switch to diesel generators – the very people who love and need the Artic island wildlife for their living, are contributing to their
destruction.
Calum commented: “It’s beautiful and tragic.”
It is not just a sad loss, it is also a cause for great concern.
As glaciers melt, they release trapped methane – a powerful greenhouse gas – into the atmosphere.
This in turn accelerates the warming process in a vicious circle.
“It’s so sad, but it was an amazing experience,” Jessica observed.
This crumbling of the eco-system was imaginatively and artistically portrayed on stage by the movement of a huge piece of paper, which engulfed the actors then pushed them out, as the ‘ice’ disappeared.
The crackling of the paper as the three actors moved under it was projected across the theatre and was eerily reminiscent of the sound made by crumbling glaciers.
The whole was a thoughtful piece, sensitively presented.
Asked for three words to sum up the experience each of the young people gave different, yet similar, suggestions – thought-provoking, sublime, surreal, meaningful, educational and rewarding.
It would be difficult to disagree or find better words.
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