The Wreck of the Medusa Workshop
December 27, 2008
The Chicago Cultural Center
"The annals of the marine, record no example of a shipwreck so terrible as that of the Medusa frigate."
Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816The event was performed as part of the Department of Cultural Affairs Incubator Series, a program designed to support the creation of new work by emerging Chicago theater companies. Utilizing Chicago DCA Theater space and resources, participants explore new projects, develop and refine styles, and share their process with the public during a special showcase event. The Plagiarists were please to be invited to be a part of it.
In 1816, The Medusa ran aground on the Bank of Arguin and the ship was abandoned. The high-ranking and well-connected crew and passengers found refuge in the longboats, while the less fortunate were forced onto a makeshift raft and abandoned miles from shore. Of the 150 people on the raft, only fifteen lived to be rescued, and many of those did not live out the year. When the survivors returned to France tell their story, they were blacklisted and slandered by a government desperate to cover up the truth. With a mix of monologues, scenes, and metafictional elements, much of it taken directly from first-person accounts, we tell the story of The Medusa and her unfortunate crew, the disastrous circumstances that led to the disaster, and the paranoia, madness, hallucinations, murder and daily mutinies on the raft itself.
We also tell the story of the aftermath - the struggle to make the truth known, the effect it had on the lives of the survivors and the country as a whole, and Theodore Gericault's famous painting that the story inspired. It is a play about epic stupidity, small-mindedness, and selfishness - of privilege and appearance rewarded and defended against competence and honesty. However, it is also about people changing the accepted false version of history, making the truth known despite all odds, and standing up to those who would have them silenced. And it is about the struggle of art to capture and communicate the truth of their harrowing experiences.
This work in progress is being written by Plagiarists Gregory Peters and Ian Miller
Collaborators in the workshop: John Blick, Chad Brown, Tony Kaehny, Sara Kerastas, Andrew Marchetti,
Matt Miller, Jack Tamburri, Jeremy van Meter and, Eric van Tassel.