Black-Light Ecologies
Gabriel Levine
Abstract
In the midst of climate catastrophe-a warming rate twice the global average, raging wildfires, surging floods-the Canadian addiction to pipelines and oil sands exploitation remains unchecked. The spectacle of a settler colony desperately turning more oil into state revenue, while ravaging Indigenous lands and simultaneously preaching environmental sustainability, could inspire a dark sort of laughter: catastrophe as camp. But could the ridiculousness of our predicament foster new forms of inter-species intimacy and collective transformation? This is the wager taken by Bears, a production by playwright/director Matthew MacKenzie and Alberta's Punctuate! Theatre which has toured widely since 2018. The play tells the story of Floyd, a Cree-Métis pipeline worker who finds himself on the run from the Mounties after committing an act of sabotage. Floyd narrates his westward escape in collaboration with a chorus of eight dancers who transform into the flora and fauna alongside the Trans-Mountain pipeline route: prairie gophers, berry patches, orcas, and grizzlies. Black light, shifting video projections and electronic beats provide a backdrop as Floyd, in his flight from the state, slowly finds himself turning into a bear. With the help of his Mama, a protective figure who moves freely about the stage, Floyd eventually manages to wipe off the oil that has obscured his connection with his ancestors and with the land. Yet Floyd's journey is not an escape into a romantic ‘nature’ or a commodified Indigenous spirituality. As Floyd moves through devastated landscapes, the chorus animates a black-light vision of our collective future, and calls for solidarity between humans and other beings. Can we find a way to stand together for justice, as the play exhorts us, within a dark mess of our own making?