GREEN SCENE The cast for “Alice in Scienceland” takes a bow at the Farm Arts Collective’s appearance at Catskill Art Space. Mason Roberts photo
Down the CAS rabbit hole and into ‘Scienceland’
By Mason Roberts | Manor Ink
The Catskill Art Space is a place where children and adults can express their creativity in various activities, from yoga for adults to art classes for kids. Occasionally there are performances, like the one on May 18, when the Farm Arts Collective put on a show. It was interactive, educational and fun.
OH, MY! The White Rabbit shares a climate moment with Alice. Mason Roberts photo
“Alice in Scienceland,” based on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, was entertaining while teaching kids to keep our world healthy and clean, using slogans like “Compost is Life” and “If the Earth is Green, the Air Stays Clean.”
The actors explained the hydrosphere, the sum of all water on Earth, and how humans are filling it up with trash. The atmosphere, too, is being polluted with emissions from cars and factories called “greenhouse gasses.” Soil that took thousands of years to create is being ruined by construction and development. Bees’ natural sources of nectar are being destroyed by land being plowed up for agriculture.
Even though some of the terms used in the play seemed hard to understand, Tannis Kowalchuk, the Collective’s artistic director, believes that all children are smart enough to learn about them, even at a young age.
AUDIO, TOO Percussionist Pam Arnold awaits the start of the performance. Mason Roberts photo
Kowalchuk works hard to teach each new generation of bright minds about climate change. She and her group are based at Willow Wisp Organic Farm in Damascus, PA, and they put on shows for kids all around the county. “We refer to ourselves as ‘perfarmers,’” she said with a wink. Their next performance will take place later in the month at the farm.
Accompanying the actors was percussionist Pam Arnold, switching it up with the amazing sound effects that really brought the show to life.
After the play, retired NASA scientist Elaine Mathews spoke to the kids and their parents about ways to keep fighting for a cleaner climate. Mathews worked at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, where her job entailed working to predict climate change. To learn more about upcoming CAS programs, visit catskillartspace.org. For more about the Farm Arts Collective, go to farmartscollective.org.