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.