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  • $17.95

    ISBN: 9780889229563 | Paperback

    128 pages | Pub. Date: 20151001
    5.5 W × 8.5 H × 1 D inches
    Backlist | Drama | Bisac: DRA013000
    Rights: WORLD

    Or find Sila in your local bookstore

Sila
The first play in The Arctic Cycle
By Chantal Bilodeau
Introduction by Megan Sandberg-Zakian

In Inuit mythology, “sila” means air, climate, or breath. Bilodeau’s play of the same name examines the competing interests shaping the future of the Canadian Arctic and local Inuit population. Equal parts Inuit myth and contemporary Arctic policy, the play Sila features puppetry, spoken word poetry, and three different languages (English, French, and Inuktitut).

There is more afoot in the Arctic than one might think. On Baffin Island in the territory of Nunavut, eight characters – including a climatologist, an Inuit activist and her son, and two polar bears – find their values challenged as they grapple with a rapidly changing environment and world. Sila captures the fragility of life and the interconnectedness of lives, both human and animal, and reveals in gleaming tones that telling the stories of everyday challenges – especially raising children and maintaining family ties – is always more powerful than reciting facts
and figures.

Our changing climate will have a significant impact on how we organize ourselves. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Arctic, where warming temperatures are displacing entire ecosystems. The Arctic Cycle – eight plays that examine the impact of climate change on the eight countries of the Arctic – poignantly addresses this issue. Sila is the first play of The Arctic Cycle. With its large-as-life polar bear puppets,  the play is evocative and mesmerizing, beautifully blurring the boundaries between folklore and science.

“This production of ‘Sila’ is true to its name—it will enable each audience member to take a deep breath and to think about his or her role in the earth’s ecology.”
Open Media Boston

“Bilodeau draws not only parallels, but direct connections to the loss of balance and nature, and losses that affected and afflict human life.”
Edge Boston

By Chantal Bilodeau

Chantal Bilodeau is a Montréal-born, New York-based playwright and translator whose work focuses on the intersection of science, policy, art, and climate change. She is currently at work on a series of eight plays that look at the social and environmental changes taking place in the eight Arctic states, with the first two plays of the series – Sila and Forward – published by Talonbooks.

Read more about Chantal Bilodeau


Introduction by Megan Sandberg-Zakian

Megan Sandberg-Zakian is a freelance theater director based in Jamaica Plain, MA, and a co-founder of Maia Directors, a consulting group for artists and organizations engaging with stories from the Middle East and beyond.

Read more about Megan Sandberg-Zakian


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