Turtles, a roaring car, an octopus named Tater Tot, and a chicken doctor? Last Thursday at A Sense of Wonder was a day full of turtle activities, where campers learned about the versatile reptiles and took to the backyard stage to perform their newest play, “The Hatchlings’ Journey.”
Before performing, bestselling author and naturalist Sy Montgomery and wildlife artist Matt Patterson came to do a presentation on all things turtles. They spoke to the different types of turtles, where different species live, how important turtles are to our ecosystems, how to keep them safe, and how to safely admire and interact with wild turtles. “I want you all to be turtle heroes!” Montgomery said.
After the presentation, Montgomery closed, “These are all the different ways that turtles hold up the world, and I hope they can inspire us to help hold up our world.”
Shortly after, campers took to the outdoors with their handmade cardboard turtle shell costumes to prepare for and rehearse for a play. After lunchtime, family and friends were invited to watch the play, preceded by a welcome singalong led by Therese Plair and accompanied by Willy Mason, as well as a showing of the camp’s latest animal paper mache creation by Island artists Steve Lohman and Penelope MacLean of Line Art Gallery. Earlier in the week, campers also took to constructing their own paper mache sea creatures.
“In three and a half days we put together a play reading a book, ‘The Book of Turtles’ by Sy and Matt,” counselor and play director Leslie Field said. “We got together and made a play based on some of the creatures we met in the book.”
“All our plays have a meaningful message. The one for last week had to be about turtles and an Octopus because of our special guests, Sy Montgomery and Matt Patterson,” Sense of Wonder’s director Pam Benjamin explained.
The play followed a group of misplaced baby sea turtles trying to make their way back to sea after a frightening interference with a big, loud truck. Luckily for the baby turtles, Dr. Chicken came to the rescue after a few calls from an octopus and a few tortoises. After a long journey by foot, he aided them with their wounds and ultimately returned them to their ocean home.
“For the story of the play, I drew inspiration from the Collective Heroic Journey, a collective-based reorientation of the hero’s journey that focuses on how groups — from global movements to families of lost sea turtles — can generate change and move society forward.” Field explained.
“I thought the play was wonderful, beautiful, well-researched and had a great message,” Benjamin said.
