By Kelly Kandra Hughes

A new initiative is taking place on Earth Day weekend in Norfolk. The Norfolk Earth Forum 2024:
Celebrating Rachel Carson brings together the efforts and generosity of the Church of Christ
Congregational, Aton Forest, Botelle School, Great Mountain Forest, Norfolk Conservation Commission,
Norfolk Land Trust and the Norfolk Library for a series of four events on April 20-21 to enlighten and
inspire participants to improve their care of the planet. The featured event for the weekend is “A Sense
of Wonder,” a one-woman play based on the writings of Rachel Carson, whose most famous
book, “Silent Spring,” is credited with inspiring the modern environmental movement. The play is
written and performed by stage, film and television actor Kaiulani Lee.

Lee, who has been performing the work for over 30 years, says that not one word of the play has
changed since she wrote it over four years in the 1990s. What has changed, Lee says, is how she and the
audience relate to Carson’s story. “[Some] audience members have seen the play five or six times. They
say, ‘Oh, you changed it so much,’ and I haven’t. What we bring to the play is what changes it. My life
experiences have changed my understanding of some of the things Rachel went through. There is more
depth in many areas.”

In “A Sense of Wonder,” Lee says she wants the audience to connect with Carson as a person, not a hero
on a pedestal. She’s adamant that Carson is an everyman who started with a love of nature and then
grew into an activist—and that it is Carson’s sense of wonder and love of the natural world that took her
on that journey. According to Lee, “Everyone in the audience has the ability to sense wonder and feel
connected. I want people to leave the play with a sense of ‘I’m going to help make a difference in the
world.’”

Lee notes that many of the environmental policies in place today, such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean
Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, came directly from Carson’s testimony to
Congress in the 1960s. Lee calls these the “first generation” of environmental laws and laments that
they’re still the only laws the country has to work with. She insists that not only is a second set of laws
necessary, because many of the old laws have been weakened or don’t deal with current technology,
but a shift in consciousness is also needed.

“Rachel didn’t have to write ‘Silent Spring’ 40 years before she did because we hadn’t created
pesticides,” says Lee. “She was ahead of her time, and now we need to move forward to include the
complications of today. [Rachel] gives us a roadmap for how to be citizens of the earth. If our first loyalty
isn’t to the air we breathe, the water we drink and the trees that create the air, then it’s all for naught.
There’s a way to do it with legislation to force things, but it’s a consciousness shift to what is important.
Our interconnectedness is everything.”

Even after all these years, Lee still spends hours preparing for each performance. She explains that
becoming Carson takes time in silence and solitude. She rehearses the script repeatedly in order to let
go of herself and let Carson take over. The show has remained popular, even though Lee had to stop
performing during the pandemic. Every performance leads to requests for additional shows.
After a performance this past fall, the incredible audience response elicited a new mindset, says Lee. “I
realized this is what I need to be doing for the rest of my life. All of my other stuff is fine for earning a
living, but ‘A Sense of Wonder’ is what I need to be doing. It’s more important than ever to keep
Rachel’s words alive.”

Kaiulani Lee will perform “A Sense of Wonder” on Sunday, April 21, at 2 p.m., at Botelle School. This
performance is rated PG-13 (parental guidance is advised) and is free and open to the public