The April People’s Choice Award goes to…
The people have spoken… The April People’s Choice Award goes to Dana Hall for her short play, (Un)drinkable, presented as a staged reading Simulcast & On-Demand via Vimeo Live on April 3rd. Congratulations, Dana!
Courtesy of Dana, we’re pleased to share the first few pages from the award-winning script. Enjoy!
(UN)DRINKABLE
by Dana Hall
CAST: 3 (doubling)
CHARACTERS (5):
PERSON 1: Voice over, POC, any age, reads numbers as people of Flint Michigan.
PERSON 2: Voice over, POC, any age, reporting news, nothing more.
NANNETTE: An older resident of Flint Michigan 65+, woman, black or Latina.
RESIDENT 1: (Double PERSON 1) POC, any age, Flint Michigan resident
RESIDENT 2: (Double PERSON 2) POC, any age, Flint Michigan resident
PRODUCTION NOTES:
Read zip codes as 9.0.2.1.0 not 9,0210 etc.
Script is open to stylization. Production is encouraged to explore and engage with themes.
Those playing residents should construct a fully realized identity.
NANNETTE need not be a singer but she does sing.
As for staging, think Sarah Kane mixed with The Laramie Project.
Relevant History
On April 25, 2014, the City of Flint, Michigan changed their municipal water supply source from the Detroit-supplied Lake Huron water to the Flint River. The switch caused water distribution pipes to corrode and leach lead and other contaminants into municipal drinking water. Residents were exposed to dangerous levels of lead, and outbreaks of Legionnaire disease killed at least 12 and sickened dozens more. Citizens voiced their concerns but state officials were dismissive, it was only after residents took to the streets in protest and garnered national attention that government officials stepped in at a federal level. They began to receive letters that were misleading and contradictory as the water crisis escalated, those letters are featured in this play. The human-made public health crisis lasted April 2014-June 2016+, the impact will be felt for generations to come.
* Flushing hydrants and pre-flushing before testing water samples skewed results. Mixing in populations not using the river water gave false reports that suggested the contamination wasn’t pervasive. It has been said the Flint River actually started on fire twice due to its high levels of pollutants and yet the city still switched the water supply over ignoring the welfare of nearly 100,000 city residents, 9,000 under the age of six.
A Systemic Catastrophe
Flint was/is not an isolated case, ongoing crises across the country have highlighted the continued fight for access to clean drinking water. Many of the cities or regions experiencing poor water access or conditions are in predominantly Black or Hispanic communities.
“Health disparities and climate change are not the fault of the most impacted communities. They’ve been driven by those with the most financial wealth. We have to address the ‘systemic and institutional racism’ across those sectors working on climate issues.” -Dr. Jalonne L White-Newsome (School of Public Health Alumna and Senior Program Officer at The Kresge Foundation. Quotes from her 2020 MLK lecture at Michigan State)
The stage is dark but for an image of a faucet.
We hear the sound of water dripping.
Lights up on NANNETTE she is seated in her
living room, it is humble, in need of fixing up but
it’s home. She is looking at a drawing of nature
done by a child.
NANNETTE
There are certain things in this life you take granted. A blue sky, a green tree, these are
things you assume will be there. They’re the stuff of our children’s earliest drawings but
they’re not promises. Living next to one of the cleanest purest water supplies in the US I
took for granted that the water running over my dishes, in my morning tea, the water I
used to brush my teeth and bathe in would be safe.
The dialogue of PERSON 1 & PERSON 2
should mimic the cadence of the dripping water
and not be afraid to overlap.
Numbers may be represented and not said.
PERSON 1
48502
PERSON 2
This is not an emergency. If it had been
you would’ve been notified immediately.
PERSON 1
48503
PERSON 2
Our water has recently violated a drinking
water standard.
PERSON 1
48504
PERSON 2
Though we have exceeded the maximum
level, of contamination a remediation plan
is in effect.
Lights up on NANNETTE she is seated in her
living room, she looks out the window.
NANNETTE
Folks from the city department started draining the fire hydrants at night. It floods the
streets during the day. I’ve never seen anything like it and I’ve been here all my life. I
checked the paper, nothing. If something was really wrong- there’d be a headline, it’d be
on the cover. I would’ve heard something. Right?
Look at him out there, my grandson loves jumping in those puddles.
Lights down on NANNETTE.
We hear the rush of shower water and
NANNETTE is singing the African American
Spiritual “Strange Things Happening Every
Day.” As we hear the following in-between her
words.
PERSON 1
48532
PERSON 2
A “Boil” Water Advisory” has been
issued due to a drop in pressure in the
city water supply.
PERSON 1
48504
PERSON 2
Due to this drop in pressure, bacterial
contamination may have occurred in the
water system.
PERSON 1
48505
PERSON 2
Bacteria are not generally harmful and are
common throughout our environment.
PERSON 1
48532
PERSON 2
Do not panic, we anticipate a speedy
remediation of the situation.
Join us for the inaugural Best of PlayGround-Chicago Gala, live and in-person, on Monday, May 1 at 7pm CT at Theater Wit and simulcast! Click here for more info and tickets.