Nurturing hope through theatre: Well Worn Theatre Company's Burning Rebellion visits the ELRC

As the world grapples with climate change, young people play a vital role in fighting for a more just and sustainable world. It is their future, but its path seems to be made by men in suits far away from the local realities of drought, floods, food insecurity, and rising seas.

With their touring protest poetry production and workshop 'Burning Rebellion', Well Worn Theatre Company invites young people to connect with and embody their local experience of environmental injustice. The ELRC hosted a showing of their provocative performance and a workshop at the end of May.

"Climate Justice is a weighty topic that can be difficult to wrap your head around. It can feel alienating and disconnected from everyday life," explained Well Worn director Kyla Davis, "Art and theatre-making are important because they allow us to connect with the topic in a different kind of way – through the body and also through collaborating with each other in space."

A protest poem for our times

‘Burning Rebellion’ was written and started touring in 2019, inspired by the global School Strike 4 Climate Movement that began the year before. "There was a real sense of anger and frustration, of being let down and told that there is no future, and that at the same time they [young people] are responsible for ‘fixing’ it," explained Davis, "We wanted to devise a production that tapped into and responded to that feeling of collective rage."

Originally funded by the National Lotteries Commission, the production was put on hold as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, the production was refueled by a supporting grant from the UMI fund for a ten-performance tour around the country. As well as this,  ‘Burning Rebellion’ has returned to audiences with a new impetus: a post-show workshop that follows each performance.

During their visit, the cast performed the energetic and fiery protest poem – which incorporates spoken word, rap, song, and movement – on the grassy slopes of the Botanical Gardens.

A diverse group from Makhanda and its surrounding areas was among the audience. This included members of the ELRC, scholars from St. Andrews Prep and Nathaniel Nyaluza, and members of various organisations, including the Makhanda Youth Group, Fort Cox Agricultural College, Mxumbu Youth, the Kat River Youth Group (from Fort Beaufort), and the Mzantsi Youth Group (from Alicedale).

The performers spoke directly to the audience, imploring them to join the rebellion. 

Living, learning, and performing through the struggle

The workshop component took place at the ELRC, where participants split into groups to create short theatre pieces on environmental and climate justice themes, locating them in the lived experiences and observations of the audience.

In one Kafkaesque performance, the phone rings and rings and rings as an uninterested municipal employee flips through the pages of her magazine, yawning tiredly. Outside the office, the energy is frantic as a woman collapses from heatstroke and dehydration, and onlookers call desperately for assistance – to no avail. Coming from a town with planned water outages and one of the worst-performing municipalities in the country, the physical performance – though only lasting a few minutes – spoke volumes.

"The workshop is us asking: What are the important environmental justice issues that are going on in your communities right now? Get it out there. Put it in the space. Let us see it. Let us understand it in a way that is not just you talking or explaining or writing or feeling on your own," explained Davis.

Nurturing solidarity and hope through performance

Not only does this kind of work connect people with the issues at hand in a personal way, but it can also nurture solidarity, which is fundamental to tackling the climate crisis.

"The group work during the workshop involves basic theatre-making skills such as listening, responding, and reflecting back. This kind of connection and responsivity can do work beyond the performance. Isn't that what theatre is all about? I'm showing you a story that is meaningful to me, and hopefully within it, you can see a story that is meaningful to you. And through that, we can understand each other a little better."

While the climate crisis can make people feel helpless in the face of a complex challenge, the simple act of creation can be liberating and inspiring. Davis thinks this can be transformative:

"What is quite magical is that at the beginning of the session, there is nothing. And at the end, there are all these mini-pieces –  a little play, a little poem – all of which could grow into their own thing and which also did not exist before. For people who are not performers, that can feel pleasantly surprising: the experience of taking all the stuff in your head and body and being able to put it into the world in a very visible and tangible way.” 

And you never know, a little spark can light a burning flame.