When it came time for the Department of Theatre and Dance Season Selection Committee to accept proposals for the 2006-2007 production season, third year M.F.A. Playwright Candidate Jason Tremblay encouraged his fellow Theatre and Dance playwriting peers to submit their work in order to increase the chances of a student play being produced. Little did he know that his newly conceived play, Katrina: The Girl Who Wanted Her Name Back, would be chosen for a mainstage spot in the season. Ironically, Tremblay admits, "It's a play that I never really wanted to write."
When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August 2005, Tremblay was deep into the development of a children's play. "Between the play I was already writing and everything else going on at the time, I didn't want to make time to write Katrina," Tremblay claims. But despite his preoccupation, a nagging image in his head eventually forced him to start writing Katrina,. "I got this image of a young black girl named Katrina in my head and I just couldn't shake her. It was like she was demanding that I tell her story," recalls Tremblay. As a result, Tremblay churned out a full first draft (90 pages) in only two and a half months.
Katrina is about a ten-year-old black girl named Katrina who is charged with taking care of herself and two elderly, wheel-chair-bound relatives during and after Hurricane Katrina struck her city. It is a story of survival, mystery, and love that includes rich New Orleans folklore and live music, intending to bring a little bit of the city's enchantment to the stage.
New Orleans is familiar territory to Tremblay, who grew up in a small town in Arkansas not too far from the intriguing Louisiana city. "I always wanted to write something about New Orleans," he says. Tremblay hopes his play will reach "kids in Minnesota or Kansas or anyone to whom Hurricane Katrina's devastation was just a week or so of news." For Katrina's university premiere, the Department will be inviting school groups to attend special children's performances.
Tremblay is proud that his play will be written and fully produced in only a little over a year since the disaster. He hopes the UT production will be the first step towards much larger things as he intends for Katrina to be produced in many other theatres around the country. It is common for beauty to spring from tragedy: from music and paintings to humanitarian efforts. The play, Katrina, is no exception to this transformation, as it has the performative potential to stir a visceral, emotional, and social connection within each audience member.
Directed by Jonathon Morgan, Katrina: The Girl Who Wanted Her Name Back runs October 13, 15 & 18-21 at 8:00 pm and October 15 & 22 at 2:00 pm in the Oscar G. Brockett Theatre at the Winship Drama Building. Tickets are $16 for adults and $10 for students, available at the door or online at www.utpac.org, by phone at 477-6060 or at HEB stores.
