ESBR Students Write and Perform “We are Nature”

Originally Published 4/21/22

LUDLOW, Vt. – On Saturday, May 14 at 2 p.m., agents from the fictional organization, “The International Time Navigators Association,” will be live on stage at Ludlow’s Town Hall auditorium.

Written entirely by the Expeditionary School at Black River’s student body, “We Are Nature” is a comedy. The ITNA agents go forward in time to look back and reflect on the ways in which today’s climate challenges could have been different. Resolving the causes of pollution is the script’s overarching theme.

When their time capsule lands in the future, Damian turns to Desmond, and declares: “Where else would we be? We’re in the future! In order to find out how we can fix the past, where’s a better place to go than the future?” The ITNA agents are determined to figure out how to minimize the destruction occurring to the earth’s ecosystem. They find themselves back in a school in 2022, trying to blend in, and trying to understand how to influence changes in human behavior.

Having had to postpone this live performance a number of times due to concerns regarding the spread of Covid, students decided to incorporate that reality into the script’s themes as well. These fictional characters come to the conclusion that developing “informed and integrative thinking skills” is one step toward resolving pollution and saving the planet.

Directed by Susan Haefner, this learning experience was made possible by a Vermont Arts Council grant. Please join the ESBR community on Saturday, May 14, for a live performance of “We Are Nature.”

Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.esblackriver.org/social-fundraisers or at the door.

For additional information, contact Kendra Rickerby, Head of School, at krickerby@esblackriver.org.