‘A Sea Change’ helps students understand how they ‘can help shape our tomorrow’

Angelique Ducounge/Staff Writer

With its middling beginnings, awkward transitions, and odd bits that were at times difficult to make out, “A Sea Change” felt more like a work in progress than a completed production ready to take the stage.

This Tuesday the Wertheim Performing Arts Center debuted “A Sea Change: A Multi-Disciplinary Collaboration in Response to a Global Threat.”

As the name might suggest the performance was a collaboration between various departments within FIU intended to raise awareness for a global threat — rising sea levels — through use of different mediums, like song and dance.

Though its mission was an unquestionably worthwhile one, the production fell short of engaging this audience member the way it should have throughout its ninety minute run.

Its message was clear enough – rising sea levels are contributing to climate change and threatening our environment, particularly for those of us who live in South Florida, and we alone can put a stop to it if we put our heads together and commit ourselves to making a change.

This message was conveyed to us in a myriad of different ways, from monologues, to dance numbers, to brief lectures. But in an effort to combine one too many creative efforts for the sake of this one big collaboration, “A Sea Change” seemed to stumble under the weight of its hefty narrative, resulting in performances that felt out of place instead of ones that were seamlessly woven into the fabric of the show’s core mission statement.

Despite its floundering progression from one scene to another, the production did have its fair share of highlights.

The theme of rising sea levels was consistently reinforced throughout the show with beautiful imagery, blue and white lighting, and classical music compositions that enveloped the theatre in a tranquil aura reminiscent of ocean water.

“Mara Cambient”, which was danced by theatre student Jeremie Etienne, composed by Professor Orlando Garcia and Mari Kimura, and choreographed by Professor Crystal Patient, reflected this theme wonderfully, as did the University Choir when performing “Alleluia”, composed by Virgil Thompson and Professor Kathy Longo.

Other highlights included “Mining Darkness,” “Good” and “We CAn Save the World.”

“Mining Darkness,” an impactful monologue, saw the whole theatre go dark as performer Zack Myers explored the discontentment of an out of work miner struggling with the reality of his carbon footprint.

“Good,” was a quirky, self-aware skit that garnered a few laughs performed by Professor Wayne Robinson and Evelyn Perez. “We Can Save the World” was the production’s closing song written by Dr. James Webb.

It was Xavier Cortada’s “Do Not Open” segment that best exemplified the collaboration’s theme and purpose. In asking the audience to use the paper and pencils that had been included with their programs to write letters to future generations listing all their current environmental concerns and dreams for the future, Cortada relayed the biggest message of hope and unity through the power of written word.

The letters, which won’t be opened for a hundred years and will be added to a collection in the FIU archives, really drove the point home on how our choices have far-reaching consequences and how we should start to think outside ourselves if we want our future children and grandchildren to live long and happy lives.

Ultimately, while “A Sea Change” might not have reached the empowering heights it aspired to, the production still managed to get across some moments of real resonance here and there, reminding its audience that climate change is not a future problem, too distant for us to really feel its repercussions. It is real and it is here, and how we choose to grapple with it can help shape our tomorrow.

Take a Bow is a column that reviews plays, productions, and art in various genres.

Image retrieved from Flickr. 

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