Published: 7/7/2016 2:20:13 PM
On Saturday, a cast of larger-than-life puppets led a parade of colorfully dressed characters into downtown Northampton from the north, south, east and west to honor Mother Earth with a festival called “The World We Love: A Celebration of Interdependence.”
A core group of children, working over the last five months, created a play with music and props and with the help of several adults, including director Beth Fairservis of Haydenville, put on the show on the lawn of First Churches.
The narrative, using songs and interactive chants with the audience, takes the viewer from a present-day world heavily dependent on fossil fuels — represented by a dragon shrouded in black and controlled by two “Oil Men” — into a brighter future of collaboration and renewable power which lifts the shroud from the dragon and turns the Oil Men into believers.
Anna Sobel of Shutesbury, dressed all in red as the element of fire, was one of several adults helping to bring the show to life. Sobel also runs her own children's theatre company and said she was excited to join in as soon as she got wind of plans for the project.
“This is my passion — changing the world through activist theater. And this is the most important issue to me at the time — climate change and stopping global warming.”