January 1, 1999

Eco-Cabaret Troupe to Perform at Middlebury College
on Jan. 17

Production is a Comic Drama about Environmental
Justice

In its continuing effort to promote ecological literacy,
the Environmental Council at Middlebury College is bringing the
Underground Railway Theater to the College on Sunday, Jan. 17
for a 3 p.m. performance of “InTOXICating,” a comic
drama about environmental justice. The cabaret performance will
take place at the McCullough Student Center on Old Chapel Road
off South Main Street (Route 30). A public discussion will follow.

The Underground Railway Theater is a Boston-based,
nonprofit theater company committed to a continuing experimentation
with actors, puppetry, and music, as well as the principles of
cultural democracy and community engagement. The troupe is dedicated
to creating theater which upholds the basic tenet of cultural
democracy that all people have a right to their own name, song,
and story.

“InTOXICating” is an original production
examining multicultural and environmental issues facing contemporary
society in a humorous and powerful way. The cabaret’s predominant
theme is that of environmental justice-the disproportionate victimization
of poor people and people of color by various forms of environmental
degradation. Other environmental themes in the production address
pesticide usage, overpopulation, excessive consumption, waste,
and tensions related to the First and Third Worlds.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency
recognized “InTOXICating” with an Environmental Merit
Award. Recommending this performance, the EPA’s Office of Environmental
Justice said, “it has taken the heart-wrenching, life-threatening
issue of environmental justice and presented it in an eco-cabaret
forum of satire, songs, and real life stories that are easy to
understand as well as to learn from.”

For more information, contact Lily O’Leary, Middlebury
College environmental coordinator, at 802-443-5043; or Wes Sanders,
Underground Railway Theater founding director, at 802-863-5708.

Beginning Tuesday, Jan. 5, tickets for the show can
be purchased at the Middlebury College Center for the Arts box
office, Tuesday through Saturday from 12 to 4 p.m. Tickets are
$5 for the general public and $3 for students. For reservations
call the box office at 802-443-6433.