Crude Oil

What: “The Big Spill,” a presentation by Leigh Fondakowski

Where: 125 Nolte Center for Continuing Education

When: 4 p.m.-5:30 p.m.

Cost: Free

After speaking to a Shell Oil worker, Leigh Fondakowski relayed a mantra that the employee saw plastered to the back of an executive’s limo: “If you’re not standing on the edge, you’re taking up too much room.”

Last year’s explosion of the “Deepwater Horizon” offshore drilling unit certainly proves the industry’s frontier spirit outlined in the bumper sticker. In April 2010, 4.9 million barrels of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico for 85 consecutive days after the explosion that killed 11 people, according to an “Al Jazeera” article BP’s oil spill, the largest in the petroleum industry’s history, crippled the region’s wildlife and marine habitats. Scientists continue to understand the irrevocable damage still crippling the local ecology and economy alike.

Fondakowski, playwright of “The Big Spill,” studies the disaster’s alarming impact through the human costs of the spill. Current events and history often inform Fondakowski’s work as a member of the Tectonic Theater Project since 1995. As head writer for “The Laramie Project,” Fondakowski used interviews and personal accounts to relay the story of the 1998 murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard.

“People are natural storytellers,” Fondakowski said. “I think that when someone is passionate about something or they suffered a loss or they have this event that changes their life, when you sit down and talk to them you really discover incredible wisdom that lives in them.”

“A play captures all of that collective wisdom,” Fondakowski added.

Working with visual artist Reeva Wortel, the two have gathered numerous interviews from a broad sampling of members of the Louisiana community and the surrounding affected area.

“I think that art can build a more sustained community and also build a more sustained meaning for the community,” Wortel said.

Wortel, whose prior work includes “Portrait Project,” captures the image of each interviewee through figurative paintings. With a commission from Wesleyan University, the two sought to combine Wortel’s art and Fondakowski’s 15 years of experience in playwriting to create “The Big Spill.”

“We’re trying to create some sort of meaning out of this really horrific story and how it’s affected peoples’ lives,” Wortel said. “And to raise awareness in a way that’s more dignified and longer lasting.”

Although the swarm of media coverage following the catastrophe generated plenty of human-interest stories, the rapid response does not allow for much contemplation. Journalism may try to gauge the community’s psychological or emotional response, but Fondakowski and Wortel seek art to convey the loss and greater significance for the future.

“We’re not trying to get a sound bite,” Fondakowski said. “We’re trying to get to know a person — to know what they love about living there, to get to know what the meaning of the place is.”

The culture of the oil industry permeates the region. And the only training some might have may be to work on an oil rig. While scientists factor the environmental costs largely associated with BP’s colossal failure, “The Big Spill” focuses on the human costs not usually associated with filling up a tank of gas.

“I never gave much thought to the men who are out there,” Fondakowski said. “They put their lives in the executives’ hands.”

The reality of the U.S.’s dependence on oil remains a grave reminder of the politically and economically entrenched industry’s relentless presence.

“One of the things that really affected me was how complex the oil industry is and how complex the economic crisis and jobs and unemployment — all those complexities are tied in with the oil industry,” Wortel said.

The two plan to premiere “The Big Spill” in a series of “work-in-progress” showings to Gulf communities to seek feedback before a national premiere of the play in New York. Also, like “The Laramie Project,” the play will have a curriculum component for students to reflect on “The Big Spill.”

A changing tide in social perceptions of the oil industry will have to counter the increasing devil-may-care attitude of executives. Recent criticism of the questionable practice of fracking and Chevron’s part in the recent oil spill along the coast of Brazil continue to remind the public of such danger that makes “The Big Spill” all the more disquieting.

Fondakowski said, “I think the magnitude of this still is a real wake-up call.”