The Waterfront Museum in Brooklyn has welcomed theater company Polybe + Seats aboard a docked barge in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn for a series of performances under the title “A Thousand Thousand Slimy Things” in honor of Earth Day. The production runs from April 23 to May 9, and so far, the play is getting great reviews from theater goers and critics.
Inspired by an effort to save the Weeki Wachee Mermaid Park, a popular roadside attraction in Florida offering aquatic theater performances, “A Thousand Thousand Slimy Things” opens with a man peering into the water to see a mermaid singing. As the play unfolds, audience members are treated to a dramatic presentation of factual information related to the Pacific Ocean’s infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a part of the ocean discovered to harbor tons of trash collected in the ocean stretching to a size nearly that of Texas’ surface area.
Reactions to the play have been mostly positive, with the crew of over 20 actors receiving praise for their creativity in combining an array information from oceanographic surveys to actual interviews with Weeki Wachee’s so-called “mermaids,” who consider themselves part of an elite group of aquatic performers because of the physical intensity of their performances. Audience members who have seen the show don’t hesitate to offer their compliments.
“I had a great time,” said Kara Feely, an audience member hailing from Brooklyn. “It was a unique experience to travel here to Red Hook and board a barge to see a show. This isn’t a neighborhood I usually come to.”
Feely enjoys Polybe + Seats as a production company, and has been following them for almost six years. She said there is intrigue in the idea of seeing a show on a barge, and was surprised to see how well the set and the natural environment of the barge merged together.
“It was difficult to tell what was a part of the barge’s normal decor and what was the set,” said Feely “Once the outside doors are closed, the slight rocking and swaying of [the barge] turns into a general feeling of drifting, like you’re under water.”
The critical praise for “A Thousand Thousand Slimy Things” has been quite positive, as well. Charles McNulty from The Village Voice said that Polybe + Seats was “a brave young company taking on the impossible Stein challenge.” His reference is related to writers who attempt to mimick the style of Gertrude Stein, an American writer who helped shape modern art and literature.
Jessica Brater, the show’s director, said that research to put together the play began over three years ago. She also said that putting the show on The Waterfront Museum’s barge was her
intention.
“We knew after a showing last year that we wanted to do the play near water, and the Waterfront Museum immediately came to mind,” said Brater. “It’s a location where you can immediately see the beauty of New York and the harbor, as well as human-made contributions like The Statue of Liberty.”
Brater is adamant about the show’s message, and hopes that audience members will learn something about The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the Weeki Wachee Mermaid Park, and have the same conviction and passion for the environment that her and her team share.
“We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the climate over the last few years. Now, we’re inviting audiences to think about it with us.”
