THE INVENTION OF SEEDS

SYNOPSIS
THE INVENTION OF SEEDS examines the link between the historical moment when life became invent-able and contemporary decolonized concepts of land, life, and property. The play traces an interconnected story of seeds, pollinators, soils, and the scientists who study them. The mass production and commodification of seeds can be seen as a metaphor for colonial relationships to the earth, which contribute directly to the ongoing climate crisis and genocide of Indigenous lifeways across the planet. Contemporary notions of ‘ownership’ are directly linked to colonial mechanisms that position humans as separate from and hierarchically, taxonomically above non-humans. In a colonial worldview, seeds are seen as commodities with no independent relationship to land, history, or place. Food is considered a resource to be consumed, rather than an intricate and sacred part of human existence. But, THE INVENTION OF SEEDS asks: what separates humans from the food we eat, if, as internationally acclaimed physicist and ecofeminist Dr. Vandana Shiva says, “we are all seeds”?
STATUS
This project is in early development.
An early reading of excerpts took place on April 24, 2021, at the PG County Publick Playhouse, produced by Groundwater Arts.
Additional support is needed for commissioning, research, and development.