Waterbodies, In the environment and within us

What would it take to address the political, social, and environmental challenges associated with water policy? How can people expose the manipulation through environmental denial as one of the driving forces behind polarization and fascism?

WATERBODIES traces a journey from the Spree River to the Baltic Sea, uncovering stories of resilience, resistance, and ecological injustice along the way. The play begins by evoking the joy that contact with water—its murmur, its texture, and its fundamental effect on the body and the senses—brings.

This celebration of the moment invokes the mysterious presence of Yemanjá, an African orixá associated with the protection of waterways. Yemanjá appears to evoke memories, counteract alienation, and proclaim the urgent need for collective action—to combat environmental racism, industrial pollution, the improper exploitation of natural resources, and water pollution, thereby securing humanity’s future on Earth. Yet the sheer volume and scale of the messages disseminated by powerful political and economic actors ultimately silence Yemanjá. Suddenly, a conflict between plastic and water erupts, and scarcity becomes the central issue.