CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When bears are able to thrive in a place, it’s a sign that an ecosystem and all the species it contains are healthy. Performances this fall will tell the story of humans living in a future world of post-climate collapse who try to call bears back to a place where there aren’t any, in an effort to heal the land.
“BEAR” is the fourth performance in “The Unreliable Bestiary,” a lifelong project by University of Illinois art professor Deke Weaver to present a performance for every letter of the alphabet, each representing an endangered animal or habitat. The first three performances were “MONKEY,” “ELEPHANT” and “WOLF.” Weaver and his co-director, Jennifer Allen, have collaborated with a team of performers, artists, designers and technicians on each performance. Weaver’s work in developing “BEAR” has been supported by a 2014 Guggenheim fellowship.
Deke Weaver, a professor of new media in the School of Art and Design, is engaged in a lifelong project, “The Unreliable Bestiary,” to present a performance for every letter of the alphabet, each representing an endangered animal or habitat.
Weaver’s project tells the stories of animals and our relationships to them. It also aims to draw attention to the catastrophic loss of habitat and biodiversity, as well as the devastating impact of climate change on ecosystems.
“It is about the animals, but it’s more about human-animal connection and – on a bigger, broader scale – how, because of habitat loss and climate change, those connections are becoming more and more contentious,” Weaver said of “The Unreliable Bestiary.”
“BEAR” is a reflection on time, the hibernation cycle and transformation. Some of the oldest stories in the cultures of the Northern Hemisphere involve bears, Weaver said. The stories about bears from many Native American, Russian, Japanese, Finnish and Scottish cultures are all remarkably similar and involve ideas of death, rebirth and transformation.
“BEAR” will be presented in three chapters over three seasons: fall, winter and spring.
The fall performances of “BEAR” will include hikes in a park and a tale told in a small, dark “den.”
The fall performances will build on ideas from “WOLF” – that of a dilapidated national park and efforts of a fictional wildlife management to reintroduce a species to an area. During the performances in Meadowbrook Park in Urbana, “rangers” will lead groups of 12 people on a walk through the woods, past six stations (one for each month of bear hibernation) made from recycled materials and representing a particular bear species. At the end of the walk, the audience members will crawl into a “den” to hear a bear-man tell his story.
The winter installment will feature six online videos that will include clues to a geocaching hunt.
The spring show, at Urbana’s Station Theater, will tell two intertwining stories – of a bear becoming human and of a man becoming a bear.
Weaver hopes that telling stories of bears in ways that are funny, odd and surprising – not preachy – will bring audiences to look past the status quo and consider bears, and our relationship to them, in a new way.
“Human imagination is just as powerful as water or air. We have to think of it as an element in our ecosystem. It changes things,” Weaver said.
“We’re living in an age where we have changed the planet. We have the potential to be really powerful (in ways that are good or bad).”
Editor’s notes: For more information about “The Unreliable Bestiary,” go to http://www.unreliablebestiary.org/. The fall performances of “BEAR” will be Sept. 21-Oct. 2. The performances are free but reservations are required. Tickets will be available beginning Sept. 14 at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts box office only. More information can be found on the Krannert Center website at https://krannertcenter.com/events/unreliable-bestiary-bear.
To reach Deke Weaver, email dekew@illinois.edu.
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