Docu-theatre play ‘Eyes of the Beast’ shares firsthand stories from Lytton wildfire and other B.C. climate disasters. Performances include talks with officials.
Theatre Production Brings Climate Disasters to the Stage
Eyes of the Beast, a new docu-theatre production, is drawing powerful attention to the human toll of climate change in British Columbia. The play recounts personal stories from survivors of devastating events like the 2021 Lytton wildfire, the Fraser Valley floods, and the B.C. heat dome, grounding large-scale climate issues in lived local experiences.
The Vancouver remount follows a successful 2024 premiere at the University of Victoria, where it was staged with professional actors and earned a 2025 Canadian Association of Journalists award nomination—a historic first for a newsroom-theatre collaboration.
Stories Drawn from Real-Life Climate Survivors
The play is based on eyewitness accounts collected by the Climate Disaster Project (CDP), a University of Victoria teaching newsroom that works directly with climate survivors. These testimonials were adapted into dramatic scenes by Sebastien Archibald, Gavan Cheema, and Kelsey Kanatan Wavey, and are performed by students from Simon Fraser University’s Theatre & Performance program under the direction of Chelsea Haberlin of Neworld Theatre.
Characters include a mother-daughter duo fleeing the Lytton fire, a fishing guide rescuing animals from flooded land, and an ER worker on duty during the 2021 heat dome.
Youth Voices Bring Urgency to Climate Storytelling
SFU student Megan Battad, 21, portrays Edith, a school administrator who helped evacuate students during the Lytton fire. Battad said the project feels especially timely, noting that the wildfire scenes echo current events unfolding across Canada this summer. “People are being evacuated right now. It’s crazy,” she said.
Battad added that climate change is a regular topic among her peers. “We are the generation that’s going to take over the larger roles in our community,” she said. “It’s crucial that we’re educated in how we affect the land we live on.”
From Global Crisis to Local Perspective
Creator Sean Holman, a professor of environmental journalism at UVic, emphasized the play’s ability to translate climate change into a human-scale issue. “Too often, we talk about climate change as a global phenomenon,” Holman said. “This play shows how human, local, and present-tense it really is.”
According to Holman, climate storytelling is key to trauma recovery, helping communities retell their stories, reconnect with others, and repair harm. He believes one of the most meaningful aspects of the production is that it ensures “someone in power is listening.”
Civic Dialogue After Every Performance
Each performance of Eyes of the Beast concludes with a facilitated conversation featuring an elected official, allowing audiences to reflect, ask questions, and share personal experiences. Holman says this model can support long-term healing and help amplify the voices of climate-affected communities.
By combining journalism, theatre, and civic engagement, Eyes of the Beast represents a groundbreaking form of public storytelling that resonates far beyond the stage.
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