We all know the story by now -- more than ten years ago, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. Levees broke, the government didn’t respond fast enough, and the storm left nearly 2,000 dead. The theatre ensemble UNIVERSES spent time in New Orleans following the disaster, talking with families and transforming the essence of those stories into a musical production called Ameriville.
UNIVERSES has collaborated with Western Michigan University theatre students on a version of Ameriville, premiering October 9th at 7:30 p.m.
Steven Sapp, of UNIVERSES, describes how Ameriville came together:
"We were working on a piece about the history of fear in America," he explains. "And we had went to Salem, Massachusetts, looking a little at the Salem Witch Trials, things like that. That was kind of where the slant was going. And then Katrina happened."
"And then once Katrina happened, we wrote the opening ten minutes of Ameriville to respond to that," he continues. "Then our director, Chay Yew, was like, 'Oh my god. This could be the piece. It could come out of this. This could be the central foundation.' And we weren't all agreeing with it but we decided just to go on this journey. And what the journey did, we started in New Orleans, but we unearthed a whole lot more -isms and schisms that came up, because of the flood and around the country. Worldwide. So we just went that route."
The members of UNIVERSES traveled to New Orleans to hear the stories straight from the mouths of its residents.
"You know what really stood out? We met with some high school kids, and their take on just being in a city that they felt wasn't for them," Sapp says. "They talked about wanting to get out. And there was one girl in particular who said, I'm not leaving. If I leave, who's gonna bring New Orleans back? And it was such a strong statement that at 16, she knew that her mission and her job was to stay there. Which I find very striking."
Other stories stuck with them, too, like a kid, stranded on his roof for four days, washing himself with alcohol. Those stories served as a launching point for the members of UNIVERSES to create monologues, songs, and intimate stories, meant to expose the larger issues that Hurricane Katrina exposed.
"We took the essence of those stories and talked about them in a way that affects people as Americans," says William "Ninja" Ruiz of UNIVERSES.
The original performance of "Ameriville" only featured the four members of UNIVERSES. But when the group brought the play to Western Michigan University, they opened it up to theatre students for the first time.
WMU senior Chris Mansa barely knew anything about Hurricane Katrina when he auditioned for the play. But quickly, he says, Ameriville became a crash course.
"There's this documentary by Spike Lee, When the Levees Broke, and we spent a rehearsal and we watched it," Mansa says. "It was a complete game-changer for me. Just seeing it with your own two eyes what's going on. Wow, it's mind-blowing."
Mansa continues: "It's really hard to wrap your mind around the fact that this actually happened. That this was actually an event that took place right here in America! In our backyard! And the response time of our government was so long and lagging, it was mind-blowing to me."
The performance also touched Mansa on a personal level. He's from the Detroit area, and hearing stories of struggle and anger made him think about his own childhood.
"And I feel like of course I can connect with that," he says. "I grew up, you know, feeling like there's a lack of help from the government. Like you're on your own. So I think just the story in general I can relate to."
Sapp, of UNIVERSES, says that's intentional. The story may start in New Orleans, but it quickly moves out, showing the injustices that happened in Louisiana could happen in any city across the country.
"We can be almost anywhere, USA," Sapp says. "There's a character who's a homeless man. He could be anywhere. You could put a picture behind him of Chicago, of New York, of L.A., of Kalamazoo. And that monologue will still resonate the same way.
"So we start in New Orleans, yes. But we open it out to the country as a whole without getting as specific. Because this country also tends to isolate things. Oh, that's happened over there, that doesn't affect me. Sot he way this show is written, I think it will make people have to sit up. Because it's not just New Orleans."
"Ameriville" premieres October 9th at 7:30 p.m. at Western Michigan University's Shaw Theatre.
