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Madness In Danbury
The Hatters Left More Than A Memory Behind
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April 29, 2010
The play, written and produced collaboratively by New York theater company Superhero Clubhouse (SHC), opens with a lost, lonely and unemployed 26-year-old Benedict struggling to fill his days with something meaningful. He declares that he will walk down Main Street, and if he doesn't find some purpose when he gets to the end, he will drown himself in the Still River. His walk yields nothing, until he takes off his shoes to step into the river. He finds a piece of fur transformed into felt from the sweat and pressure of his foot, thereby stumbling on his hat making career.
After introducing mercury into his hat making process, Benedict begins to hallucinate. He entertains visitors from the future who become his employees, each of them bearing news of a polluted and eventually uninhabitable world.
SHC founder Jeremy Pickard stated in a phone interview that their plays are based on information, and as a company, the group tries not to preach. This may be SHC's intention, but the message of MERCURY is clear: We're doomed if we don't clean up our act.
"The statistics about mercury in and around Danbury are staggering. An abstract by Billo Jarrow for a 2003 presentation on Housatonic mercury contamination lists a section of the Still River holding 100,000 parts per billion (ppb) of mercury. To put this into perspective, natural levels of mercury are between 50 and 100 ppb. "You can read the entire abstract at http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2003NE/finalprogram/abstract_51250.htm.
The state has grappled with how to clean up this heavy element for years. In 2003, genetically altered cottonwood trees were planted on one of Danbury's old hat factory sites in attempts to suck mercury from the soil. The method worked, but it was hard to say how effective it was since the trees emitted trace amounts of mercury and released the chemical up into the atmosphere. The issue also remains about how to properly dispose of the trees once they have done their job, which is something the city will have to consider in the near future.
SHC did well in using an atypical medium to revisit the mercury issue. The immaculately costumed troupe was able to put on a thought provoking show utilizing only a few props, a tightly-produced soundtrack, and an array of impressive theatrical talent. The performance in the Danbury Library Plaza was SHC's first time performing MERCURY outdoors, but the setting framed the play's message perfectly.
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