The Story of FIREROCK
In this all-ages story of waking up to our impact on the world around us, we meet Firerock, a symbol for all fossil fuels and a 365-million-year-old source of power and wisdom. She sings of how she has fueled human innovation and powered their wildest dreams, but it only made them hungrier for more. Over time, humans fell under the power of the Snooze, a numbing slumber that prevents them from seeing their connection to all life, and from feeling their impact on the living world. They can only awaken if they open their hearts to the SPARK of awareness that helps them see and care for the world around them.
Firerock’s light illuminates Hopewell Junction. In this mining town, the humans pull Firerock from the earth, and all but one of them, the local healer Pippa, are under the power of the Snooze. Pippa is the protector of the magical Wildwood, where her helper, the bumbling Otter lives. Wildwood is the last pristine forest in the area and a place of magical singing trees. Under the wildwood runs a precious vein of Firerock that many in Hopewell feel, if extracted, will help the town.
In a story of difficult choices and heartfelt relationships we follow a number of compelling characters in the process of awakening from the Snooze. We get to know Tai (the ambitious grandson of the owner of the mine and representative of the mining company PremCo), Ellis (Pippa’s ex-husband and beloved retired miner), and Ana (Pippa and Ellis’ daughter, a young woman struggling to manage the balance of work and school, and who is trying to discover who she is and what she cares about). In the final moments of Firerock, we meet members from the host community who join the actors on stage, and the characters challenge the audience to shake off the Snooze, wake up to their impact on the world, and join together to make sustaining changes for the better through passing the spark from heart to heart. In this heartfelt, humorous, and moving story, every voice and every action matters as we celebrate the true power we have individually and together to make a difference for generations to come.