Gonzaga readers theater, Nov. 7-11

Gonzaga readers theater, Nov. 7-11
Originally uploaded by Sir Andrew Aguecheek

with performances Nov. 7-8 at G.U.
and
on Nov. 10-11 at two Spokane-area libraries
directed by Katie Roth croth@gonzaga.edu
(816) 668-8268

*Katrina: The K Word* features 11 actors, each playing one main role and several bystander roles.
The play is based on interviews that were conducted starting in May 2007.
The show premiered in December 2007 on the campus of Montclair State University, in Montclair, New Jersey. It has only been produced a handful of times.
Testimonial-interview plays like this can have great impact when you're in the moment, in the same room with the actors. As director Katie Roth, a recent Gonzaga grad, cites the comment by Vivie, a sort of narrator-character, who says that *Katrina* isn't a Hollywood sort of story because it isn't a cliffhanger.
"It's like to be continued," Vivie says, and Roth adds that "New Orleans is still rebuilding and no one really knows when things will be back to what they were before the storm — or if they ever will be."
Roth refers to the play as "a tag team story of sorts," with rapid interchanges among the characters. Topics covered include "outrage at the government for their slow response to the people of New Orleans, to lamenting the loss of a grandfather who wouldn't leave and who was then found dead in his home when the flood waters receded. There is one haunting paragraph that describes walking through the water to the SuperDome and passing floating bodies."