BOWERBIRD

Lingua Botanica is an investigation into the conscious plant and our dialogue with Nature. Dr Lily Sharp (Karen Berger), our learned and eccentric scientific guide, gives a fascinating lecture on the somewhat controversial subject of plant cognition. She delivers her lecture in her usual entertaining style, filled with humour, personal insights and the latest scientific research. But then her 'normal' lecture is interrupted with dazzling and beautiful immersive projections of the inner workings of plants - cellular activity, microscopic root hairs and a strange soundscape transport the audience into another world. Back to Dr Lily Sharp and her lecture as she delves further into the wonders of this new research into plant memory, communication and consciousness, giving examples of real experiments conducted by actual scientists! Suddenly we hear a loud rhythm and a strange figure appears carrying a heavy drum on his back. He enters slowly, places his instrument down and begins a slow intense beat that builds to a climax...he leaves. Back to Dr Sharp as she continues her investigation, which leads eventually to a deeply personal request for understanding between humans and plants, a dialogue and discourse on an almost metaphysical level. Again we are thrust into the immersive images and sounds of a strange and wonderful world, an almost psychedelic experience of colour, form and beauty; a journey into Nature and our deepest selves. From the back of the lecture hall a man is greeting people, welcoming them all to his garden, handing out vegetables to the audience - it is the man with the drum. Sharrif (David Joseph), is a former refugee and architect who volunteers at a local community garden. He reveals a part of his story and shares his passion and joy for the garden that helped to heal his trauma. He, like Dr Lily, leaves us with a plea to listen to Nature. Once more, images and sound surround us, taking us deeper into a wondrous world filled with the mysteries of Nature. As the audience leave the lecture hall Dr Sharp and Sharrif are seen together, gardening in a small raised plot, sharing in the joys of a real connection to Nature and the embodied blessings of a garden.