Year 6: Communicating Marine Concerns through the arts

‘A Night at the Museum’:  An Explanation

Our showcase produced by Year 6 was in response to a year-long Enviro Study on the state of our marine environment. The work is part of a wider movement to encourage change in how we view our oceans and water ways and to think about what we can do to create a sustainable future.

As part of our study, we visited the Voyager Discovery Maritime Museum which was hosting an art exhibition on the Kermadec Islands.  The Kermadec’s are one of the last ‘baselines of normality’ left in the world for scientific study but are only partially protected as a marine reserve. We were struck by the exhibition’s message calling for the Kermadec’s to be given World Heritage Reserve Status before commercial fishing and mining take over .

We decided to highlight this call for action in our school community through the exhibition and showcase you see this evening.  We hope this inspires our audiences to find out more about The Kermadec Islands and to discuss and explore other marine issues with their friends and family children.

 The Albatross: 

During the year we have learnt about the plight of Albatross caused by plastic pollution in the Northwest Pacific and long line fishing in the Southern Ocean.  During Year 6’s camp at Long Bay’s Marine Reserve, we were also inspired by the leadership of Sir Peter Blake and on returning to school studied his sea log observations, aboard the Sea Master, on the decline of the Albatross.

When finding a voice for our showcase, we researched the Albatross and discovered Samuel Coleridge’s Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner… “at length did cross an Albatross, through the fog it came”.  We work-shopped the poem during our drama sessions and this evening you will see a modern take on this still relevant tale of man’s impact on nature and the importance of our respect for it.

Synopsis:

In Coleridge’s poem The Ancient Mariner disrupts a wedding party and corners a guest with his “glittering eye” in order to tell his tale of sea adventures in the Southern Ocean. In our re-telling you will find the Ancient Mariner disrupting something more relevant to our re-tell.

Scene 1: Art Auction – At the Museum

The wearable art pieces on display at the museum are auctioned off

Scene 2: Sailing South 

The Mariner begins his tale and journeys south to “the land of mist and snow” where he and his crew meet an Albatross. The Albatross is a good omen and “makes the breeze to blow”, but the mariner shoots it, for reasons unexplained! As punishment the crew hangs the Albatross wings about the mariner’s neck and the boat is left adrift on a “wide wide sea… without any drop to drink”. It is propelled forward now not by wind but by the spirit of the Albatross who can be seen “nine fathoms deep” below the keel of the boat…

Scene 3: The Dolphin

The Mariner can do nothing while his ship is under the spell of the Albatross Spirit and is forced to circle the ocean currents, like the Albatross itself. While on this enforced journey he continues to write in his sea log and the next three scenes describe moments in time. The first is an encounter with a magical pod of dolphin.

Scene 4: The Seal and Turtle

Another sea log entry, this time the mariner meets both a seal and a turtle.

Scene 5: The Whale

The next sea log entry describes coming across a pod of whale.

Scene 6: The Terrible Truth

The Albatross Spirit has not finished the mariner’s punishment yet. The mariner until now has only seen the beauty to be found in the ocean. Now he becomes tossed about in a sea of troubles and sees great change afoot in the ocean.

Scene 7: A Safe Haven

The Mariner is left racked and ravaged and unsure where to turn. The Albatross Spirit takes pity and shows him hope by taking him to the Kermadec Isles. Here the mariner is able to give thanks for the beauty that he sees and once he does this the Albatross around his neck falls free and releases him and his ship from the spell.

Scene 8: And So We decide

We find ourselves back with the Auctioneers at the museum. The mariner is finishing his tale and has a moral to tell. We hope that you listen and take heed.