The Big Spill: A presentation by playwright Leigh Fondakowski December 1, 2011

In the wake of what is now being called the largest environmental disaster in United States history, playwright and Tectonic Theater Project member Leigh Fondakowski (The Laramie Project, The People’s Temple) and visual artist Reeva Wortel (Portrait Project) are creating a play based on interviews with the people of the south coast of Louisiana with an accompanying visual installation of life-sized portraits of the interviewees, which explores both the human and scientific impact of the BP oil drilling disaster of 2010. The work will recount the dramatic story of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon and the subsequent impact on the estuary and marine life, but will also take a close look at the people, the history, the culture, the environmental complexities and crisis facing southern Louisiana, and the long-term impacts of the BP oil drilling disaster.

What is the true environmental and human cost of our relentless pursuit of oil? The interviews include scientists, environmentalists, oil workers and the families of those who lost their lives on the Deepwater Horizon, business owners, government officials, community leaders, fishing families and ordinary citizens whose lives and livelihood depend on the delicate estuary systems along the Gulf coast. The artists have been returning to the Gulf on a monthly basis since March 2011.
Fondakowski will give a work-in-progress showing of slides of the life-sized portraits as well as share excerpts from the interviews.

Leigh Fondakowski was the Head Writer of The Laramie Project and has been a member of Tectonic Theatre Project since 1995. She is an Emmy nominated co-screenwriter for the adaptation of The Laramie Project for HBO. Her latest work, The People’s Temple, has been performed under her direction at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Perseverance Theater, and The Guthrie Theater, and received the Glickman Award for best new play in 2005. Another original play, I Think I Like Girls, premiered at Encore Theater in San Francisco under her direction and was voted one of the top 10 plays of 2002 by The Advocate.

Fondakowski's most recent work, Casa Cushman, explores the life of 19th century actress Charlotte Cushman. One of the most important actresses of her time, Cushman was famous for her interpretation of the leading MALE roles in Shakespeare.

Official Website: http://www.ias.umn.edu/symposiumcal.php