Climate Disaster Project play wins award
June 05, 2025
Congratulations go out to the on winning Silver in the "Environmental and Climate Change" category at the on June 1 for Eyes of the Beast: Climate Disaster Survivor Stories, a documentary play about the experiences of British Columbians during the extreme fires, heat, and flooding of 2021. This co-production with marks the first time a play has ever been recognized for reporting excellence at these prestigious annual journalism awards.
The timing is perfect too, as Eyes of the Beast will be at Simon Fraser University’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts in downtown Vancouver — but they won the CAJ award for the show’s world premiere at UVic’s own back in September 2024.
"This award comes just as we approach the four-year anniversary of the extreme heat, fires, and floods in Western Canada the play portrays," says Climate Disaster Project founding director Sean Holman, UVic’s Wayne Crookes Professor of Environmental and Climate Journalism.
"It’s also a testament to the 117 people who worked to bring it to the stage, including our partners at Neworld Theatre, our students at the 51³Ô¹Ï, the University of British Columbia, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Mount Royal University, MacEwan University, and First Nations University of Canada, and — most importantly — the survivors who worked with them."
About the play
Adapted from the award-winning journalism of the Climate Disaster Project — an international newsroom based out of UVic’s Writing department but now with over 35 educational, media, and cultural partners worldwide — Eyes of the Beast is a verbatim production pulling from hundreds of testimonies of people across Canada who have lived through climate change together. It was created through the efforts of a number of UVic alumni, including Beast director and Neworld artistic director Chelsea Haberlin plus co-creator Sebastien Archibald.
As with when it debuted at UVic, each performance of the Vancouver run of the play will be followed by a facilitated talkback, featuring a BC or Vancouver political leader, who will engage with the audience and reflect on ways to support impacted communities.
The Vancouver premiere of Eyes of the Beast is co-created by Sebastien Archibald, Gavan Cheema, and Kelsey Kanatan Wavey.
By John Threlfall