Chantal Bilodeau

The third play in the award-winning Arctic Cycle on the impact of climate changeHarveys suck. Whether hurricanes or Hollywood producers, Harveys are overpowered forces primed to prey on vulnerable people and ecosystems. Harveys especially prey on women, including the woman in No More Harveys, who flees her abusive husband - coincidentally named Harvey. Looking to forge a new path forward in a life gone astray, she heads for Alaska to trace the evolutionary path of the humpback whales. But migration isn't as straightforward as it seems, especially given shifting climates and an ecosystem primed to seek perfect homeostasis. In turns funny, insightful, and moving, No More Harveyspresents a world dominated by colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy where the problems that plague our communities, be we women or whales, share the same gnarled roots. No More Harveys is the third play of the Arctic Cycle, a series of eight plays that looks at the social and environmental impacts of the climate crisis on the eight Arctic states. It follows Sila, set in Canada, and Forward, set in Norway.

A play partly inspired by a ten-day sailing expedition around the Svalbard Archipelago, located between Norway and the North Pole.

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 daughter, 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.