SPILL: A PLAY AND ART INSTALLATION ABOUT THE DEEPWATER HORIZON TRAGEDY AND THE BP OIL SPILL

In the wake of what is now being called the largest environmental disaster in United States history, playwright Leigh Fondakowski (The Laramie Project, The People’s Temple) and visual artist Reeva Wortel (American Portrait Project) created a play based on over two hundred interviews with an accompanying visual installation of life-sized portraits of the interviewees, which explores both the human and scientific impact of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy and subsequent BP oil spill. The work tells the dramatic story of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon and the subsequent impact on the estuary and marine life, but also takes a close look at the people, the history, the culture, and the environmental complexities of southern Louisiana. Together, the artists  create a portrait of a community at an important moment in American and global history. SPILL was produced at Ensemble Studio Theater in New York, NY in 2017, at TimeLine Theater in Chicago, IL in 2015, and had it's World Premiere at Louisiana State University's Swine Palace Rielly Theater in Baton Rouge, LA in 2014.

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