ROACH HOTEL
THE LIVING EARTH
TOWARD NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
Artistic Director
Cheryl Flaharty
Dancer
Chandra Miars
Script
Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl
Costume and Set Design
Cheryl Flaharty
Lighting
Janine Myers
Production Assistant
Lynn Maire Sager
Stage Manager
Barett Hoover
Video Editing
Izumi Designs
Creative Team - Costumes & Sets
Cheryl Flaharty, Rebecca Horne, Dee Kursat, Carlyn Wolfe, Lindsey Shannon, Geneva Rivera, Peggy Hill, Rose Wolfe.
Supported by the Hawai`i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawai`i or grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Cades Foundation, and Jean Rolles.
ABOUT THE SHOW
‘The Living Earth’ was presented in 2009 as the fifth interactive production of IONA’s diverse Salon Series. Staged at Honolulu Hale’s Sky Gate Sculpture designed by Isamu Noguchi, 'The Living Earth' wove together dance and spirituality to present a theatrical dialogue of universal concerns. The interactive performance revolved around a Cosmic Circus featuring a Living Altar of sacred statues that brought the audience through the chakras as the evening progressed. Surrounding the Circus were nine Gates of Earth Awareness performance tents designed to honor and bring awareness to the current state of the planet and human consciousness. Prior to the show, audience members chose their individual “fate,” or order in which they watched the performance evolve as they visited each of the nine Gates.
ABOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Nuclear weapons are the most dangerous weapons on earth. One can destroy a whole city, potentially killing millions, and jeopardizing the natural environment and lives of future generations through its long-term catastrophic effects. The dangers from such weapons arise from their very existence. Although nuclear weapons have only been used twice in warfare—in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945—about 22,000 reportedly remain in our world today and there have been over 2,000 nuclear tests conducted to date. Disarmament is the best protection against such dangers, but achieving this goal has been a tremendously difficult challenge.
Today nuclear weapons exist in the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea. Over 90% of nuclear weapons are in the arsenals of the United States and Russia.
In a world in which nuclear weapons exist, any war has the potential to escalate into a nuclear exchange, which would be catastrophic for humanity. Therefore, in addition to our work for the abolition of nuclear weapons we must also work toward an emphasis on ending war and creating peace.
