The Story
PROLOGUE
High above the beautiful land Owl flies in terror. A fierce fire burns below. He circles anxiously as a flock of Crows, crying in pain as they are caught by the lashing of the flames, try to escape. Owl cannot help them and can only watch as they fall. He turns and flies away, searching for safety.
SCENE ONE
Dukdukdiya (DDD) is happy to be home. She darts around the water, swoops under tree boughs, and lands near the pool’s edge. DDD had been away for a long time and had missed her friends.
Sarah Schabas and Jan van der Hooft during a rehearsal in January 2020. Photo by Nadia Zheng. Costume design by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas.
SCENE TWO
Bear greets DDD with a warm embrace. They both notice a new smell, a sweet smoky perfume that has filled the air. The smoky wind and dusty breeze make them feel uneasy. Bear is overwhelmed, not knowing what to do. As DDD calms her friend, Bear’s face takes on a dreamy look. He is thinking about his love – Bunny.
SCENE THREE
In the distance, a thumping noise can be heard, getting louder and louder as it gets closer. Suddenly, Bunny stomps into the clearing and walks right up to Bear. She is very frustrated with him as he hasn’t done any housework! Bear and DDD tell Bunny about the smell. Bunny isn’t concerned with the smell when there is so much work to do. “Stop caring about what’s far away!” DDD replies, “I think we should do something about it.” She then shares inspiring stories of faraway people who work to protect our Earth.
SCENE FOUR
The friends are interrupted by the sudden arrival of Owl. He seems to have fallen from the sky. DDD leans over him to see if he is okay. Suddenly, he screams, “FIRE,” and looks around with fear in his eyes. When he realizes he is safe, Owl assures his friends that he is fine and doesn’t need their help.
SCENE FIVE
Bear and DDD recognize the smoky scent on Owl and begin to wonder if the smell is coming from a fire. Bunny is more suspicious and accuses him of smoking. What else could explain the smell and the ash falling from his wings? When Owls tells his story of escaping the forest fire, Bunny realizes he is seeking shelter and instead of treating him as a stranger she welcomes him. She tells Owl that she too once fled from her home and found peace, friendship, and love with DDD and Bear.
SCENE SIX
Bear fears that Owl is telling the truth about the fire and raises his concerns with Bunny and DDD. Bunny pushes his worries aside as she tends to Owl’s injuries. Owl refuses their help. He feels badly about leaving the other animals behind when he fled from the fire. The animals come together as they tend to Owl and tuck him into bed.
SCENE SEVEN
Struggling to fall asleep, Owl remains tense. He is remembering the dusty red sky and all the smoke. He is remembering all the crows that didn’t make it to safety. DDD watches over her new friend as he finally rests.
Rebecca Cuddy, Jan van der Hooft, Evan Korbut during a rehearsal in January 2020. Photo by Nadia Zheng. Costume design by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas.
SCENE EIGHT
Owl begins to dream and is visited by the spirits of the crows who died in the fire. These are the crows that watched Owl fly away! The crows try to entice Owl to join their flock and leave the others.
SCENE NINE
Before they can succeed, DDD wakes Owl up. He tells her about the crows and his plans to join them. DDD looks around. There are no crows to be seen. It was only a bad dream. DDD assures Owl that she, his true friend, has been by his side as he slept. Bunny bursts in, crying out for Bear, who has gone off alone. The friends set off to try and find Bear.
SCENE TEN
Meanwhile Bear has gone into the forest and discovers the fire is real! He rushes back to his friends and they frantically search for a way to deal with the fierce fire. They can think of nothing to do but run away. But as they start to escape the flames, they realize that DDD is not following them.
Instead, DDD picks up one drop of water and tosses it on the fire. “Now, I do what I can.”
Owl, realizing that he too can help, picks up a drop of water and tosses it on the fire. “The nothing we do is the something undone.”
Instead of washing dishes and sweeping floors, Bunny picks up a drop of water and tosses it on the fire. Instead of refusing to see the danger, Bear picks up a drop of water and tosses it on the fire.
“The nothing we did is the something undone.”
“Now, we do what we can!”