Sila

The Arctic Cycle #1

by Chantal Bilodeau, Megan Sandberg-Zakian (Contributor)

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 son, 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.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Climate Change Fiction, Read For School, School

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 2015

Reviews

[Myriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and artistic composition between drama, science and poetry!

[Irma Mayorga · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friend Aaron C. Thomas told me about the gift that is this play. Read it.

[Thomas Correnti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it for my university and it most certainly does not disappoint. The fact that it can weave together all those stories into a cohesive and engaging and VERY short play that is extremely impressive. The characters flow through each other very nicely and give you several thought provoking questions that makes this read very interesting.

As good as it is though it definitely frustrated me a few times. The daughter polar bear didn’t feel like it mattered outside of the fact that it dies and honestly the entirety of act two is kind of messy with Thomas and Raphael doing their own shenanigans while the rest of them further the plot. Not that it’s overly bad, it just takes away the element that made the play so special in the first act, being that the stories didn’t just connect, they impacted and mattered towards one another. Great play though, I’m just bitter.

[Jack Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My goal is to see a staged production of this piece at least once in my life. The coolest thing I find about a play is the act of the transition, the adaptation, from the page to the stage, and how it's done and in what direction the director, designers, and actors take the material. Some things that I read have no life to them and give me no excitement to see what dramatic artists can do. But with Sila... I can't stop thinking about what the set could look like, how the projected text can complement the foreign languages, how the polar bears will move through the environment.
The way I can tell if a play is "good" is if after I read it I will do anything so that I can see it. I want to see this adaptation.

[Era · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really intriguing book that incorporates climate change and real life issues of what’s going on in the world. And not only putting the focus on climate change but how real issues of how we as humans have lost part of our humankind and humanity. You end up feeling for all the characters and their experiences as well as what they underwent even the nanuq’s- There were certain parts that were not translated from French which is fine because I could find & translate it myself, but I don’t get why only some sentences/words were translated but not others. Overall though, great play!

[drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

i had to read this for a class and i loved it. its so well written and incredible to imagine a production of it. it brings the right kind of awareness to the issues of climate change and provides historical insight from cultures in the arctic which is amazing as well. i will look into reading other plays in the series!

[Kyleigh ♡ ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good! Quick read, read it in one sitting. Great ending, great story, great message. Very diverse, very profound. The characters felt real, and I found myself laughing aloud from the dialogue. Hope to see this as a performance one day.

[mali · Rating 4 out of 5]

A play that brings me so much sorrow. Maybe it's hard to feel hope for the future but does that mean we shouldn't, I don't know. Is it noble to neglect personal problems to instead fight for the earth, what's the balance, and when are we wrong? Such a good play I'm still reeling.

[David Youssef · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for University English Class. Had powerful moments and very much could see this as a production. However, do think that those moments and messages needed more time to build up to properly be paid off.

[Hong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8 stars. Would love to see the production adaptation of this.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and unusual short play about life - and death in the Arctic. Glad I found this rather accidentally as we embark on a trip to the Arctic.

[Alena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly moving! Makes me want to be a better human for the world.

[lina · Rating 3 out of 5]

very easy to consume but very limited

[Adelaide Felx · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, sad but peaceful and hopeful. I really liked the idea of Sila

[Bree Hatfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for World Literature.

I was surprised at how much I liked this play! It’s very prescient and hits so many emotions. It’s funny, but heartbreaking and profound. The scope is incredible, we see how the events of the play effect these very real people, but we also see the mythological importance. It’s fun and gripping, and incredibly important. Definitely give this one a read!

[Alayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play worked well in involving the reader in the story, changing from one perspective to the other. We see how the issues that occur throughout the play affect every living thing and the repercussions of this issues.

[Ryan Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn't know how this play was going to work AT ALL, but ended up loving it. Very happy.

[Ryan Juno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wasn't sure how this show was going to work out at all, but I TOTALLY saw it in my mind. Loved it.

[Cayla Eagon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play raises some very important issues about climate change.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a play read for class. A new take on climate change writing. Really loved variations of perspective. Small sniper of a broader global issue. Would love to see it on stage.