‘Listen to the sea’ in PA
Interactive threatre opens dialogue space
What is your first memory of the ocean? That’s the starting point for an unusual theatre piece that’s coming to Port Alfred on Thursday night.
Led by Dylan McGarry and Taryn Pereira from Rhodes University’s Environmental Learning Research Centre, Lalel Ulwande (Listen to the sea) is an interactive theatre piece about a marine educator who tells the story of her grandmother (a traditional healer from Kosi Bay) and her mother (a Zionist healer).
The April floods in KwaZuluNatal that scientists said were twice as likely to happen as a result of climate change are a recent example of how profound an impact decision makers’ failure to listen to scientific research has on people’s lives.
But what if scientists have been getting it wrong all along? Not the research, but how they communicate it?
That’s exactly the problem, says project collaborator, Dr Kira Erwin, senior researcher at the Durban University of Technology’s Urban Futures
Centre. Talk of the Town spoke to her ahead of this week’s performance in Port Alfred.
“The research we produce isn’t accessible,” she says. This is because of the style and format of academic writing, and that it sits inside a bound library volume.
“We found it doesn’t matter what the science says, there is still no shift.”
Enter what academics call narrative data – what most of us call stories.
“Research looks at issues through a critical lens. Stories are a critical tool, but they also allow
empathy: you can suspend your judgment while you’re listening to a story.
“The other reason stories are so powerful is that storytelling has a long tradition in Africa. It’ sa form people readily accept.”
This kind of research starts with open-ended questions.
“We start with a shared understanding, rather than with the interviewee’s expertise.”
Lalela Ulwandle is researchbased storytelling that starts with the participant audience: “What is your first memory of the ocean?”
“When there’s a paradigm change required, such as the shift away from fossil fuels, it’s such a big shift from both the economy and ways of life that it needs change at both structural and individual levels,” Erwin says.
That means it’s not just all about lobbying government ministers.
“Any ally with any approach is an important part of a paradigm shift,” Erwin says.
“Local stories in local communities are very powerful and we work hard to bring decision makers into that space.”
In Lalela Ulwandle, Mpume Mtombeni plays Nolwandle, a marine educator with an ancestral heritage in Zulu spirituality; Alison Cassels plays Faye, a retired marine scientist; and Rory Booth plays Niren, a young social and environmental activist.
This talented and awardwinning cast perform a captivating production based on first-hand testimonials crafted into a theatrical journey.
After the show, the audience are encouraged to participate in a public dialogue facilitated by the research team from the Environmental Learning Research Centre (Rhodes University) and the Urban Futures Centre (Durban University of Technology).
Lalela Ulwandle will be on at the Ndlambe Town Hall on Thursday July 7 at 7-8.30pm Entry is free. For more information: TamlynnF@dut.ac.za