World Premiere Reading of RUSTBELT:2014 Comes to Virginia
In the hills of West Virginia 2014, a spill of Methylcyclohexanemethanol (a coal washing agent) compromised the water of 300,000 residents. The coldest day of the winter reaped the 'largest chemical spill in American history' which was conveniently swept under the rug, the physical affects still plague the residents. RUSTBELT:2014 is inspired by these events, creating a fictitious world riddled with satire and mixed with multi-media. In RUSTBELT: 2014 a toxic spill is a stark backdrop to a love story set in 'Chemical Valley', an unexpected humanity arises from the page. Twenty years from where we last left the characters, an underground dance movement continues to drive the action of this twisted fantasia. The EPA (Sara Heifetz) makes a decisive return to the small town where our environmental heroine, Sheila Withers (Matthew Shofner) is heading the local branch of HUD (Housing and Urban Development). A pig farmer is to blame for the disappearance of Rookie, which has shaken his lover Donnie (Vinnie Gonzalez) to the core, Rookie's sister (Katrinah Carol Lewis) seeks justice for her lost brother, fighting her own physical and emotional manifestations from the water contamination.