Climate Disaster Project

“There are days when the school closes because the children don’t have water to drink, and when women have to go down to the Itacarambi River to wash clothes and bathe.

We’re living through a drought that has lasted more than 10 years. There is very little rain. It’s not the fault of the Xakriabá. It’s the fault of the big businessmen, whose only thought is to destroy the land. The earth is dying because man himself is killing it.

Our children believe they could die of thirst at any moment. Many young people think about committing su***de. Our dream was to get back at least a little piece of our river, the São Francisco, to try to bring the water from there to at least part of the reserve.

We hope that Tupã has never died and never will. And that he can still make the weather better. But man needs to do his part, to stop so much deforestation, to stop the war, to stop killing the innocent, because in Brazil, it’s the Black and Indigenous people who die most often, because they’re innocent.”

- Xakriabá leader José Fiuza Xakriabá, Xakriabá Indigenous territory drought, as told to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro’s Alexandre Caetano

Read more about José's climate disaster experience as part of The Guardian’s This is Climate Breakdown series (The Guardian Photo/Chris de Beer-Procter)

“When we built the house in 1978, we couldn’t see the sea. We never imagined that one day it would reach our house. It was so painful to see my house being destroyed gradually.

We installed fencing, with large metal sheets, to slow it down. My bedroom, which was closest to the sea, had a huge crack in the wall from leaks. When the fencing was touching the house, we had no choice left.

We had a small house in the back, where the housekeeper used to live. I moved in there. Then I had to leave because lots of sand started coming in.

It’s not the material goods I felt I lost, but rather the moments I had in that house. You can’t rebuild that context elsewhere.

We thought that some erosion control could be carried out, like has been done in other states and cities. But, in a way, we know that it’s our fault, as human beings, because we don’t take care of the environment as we should.”

- Retiree Sônia Ferreira, Rio de Janeiro coastal erosion, as told to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro’s Júlia Mendes

Read more about Sônia's climate disaster experience as part of The Guardian’s This is Climate Breakdown series (CDP Photo/Thiago Freitas)

Some of Vancouver Island’s most prominent politicians will be showing solidarity with disaster survivors and speaking about what can be done to protect their communities at the world premiere of a groundbreaking theatre production about British Columbia’s extreme heat, fires, and floods.

Eyes of the Beast: Climate Disaster Stories, showing from September 16-21 at the Phoenix Theatre in Victoria, brings to the stage true life stories of loss, hope, and resilience from across the province.

At each performance, a voice from local, progressive, or conservative politics has been invited to listen to those stories and the audience’s response to them.

Those political leaders will then share their own thoughts about the impact of climate disasters on the province and how we can survive them together. They include:

* former BC Liberal cabinet minister George Abbott (Sept. 16);
* Minister of Tourism Arts, Culture, and Sport Lana Popham (Sept. 17);
* BC Conservative Nanaimo-Lantzville candidate and former NDP MLA Gwen O'Mahony, MBA, MScIB (Sept. 18);
* BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau (Sept. 20);
* BC Conservative Oak Bay-Gordon Head candidate and former Victoria city councillor Stephen Andrew (Sept. 21, matinee)
* Mayor Saanich Dean Murdock (Sept. 21).

Eyes of the Beast, produced by the internationally renowned Neworld Theatre, is based upon on-the-ground reporting from the University of Victoria’s award-winning Climate Disaster Project.

The first full-length documentary play of its kind, it paints a portrait of ordinary people living in extraordinary times—and the communities of neighbours, friends, and families who have helped them.

Tickets are going fast so reserve yours by following the link.

https://finearts.uvic.ca/theatre/mainstage/2024-2025-mainstage-season/eyes-of-the-beast/