Insite

MSU students wrote responses to the Department of Theatre and Dance’s recent production of the Meadowlands Project. Below is a random sampling of the students’ reactions.  Read their take-aways and then add your own.  We’d love to hear from you!

“Whether you hate it while you are stuck there or not, when it comes down to it everybody loves their home town. No matter how disgusting or smelly it is, or full of snotty people, you just can’t resist it sometimes.  Loving where you are from is a key point to Rogelio Martinez’s tale of an area destroying its inhabitants. Martinez provides very good insight into how a simple act of carelessness can affect a large amount of people…. Debbie Saivetz’s direction focuses on the fact that sometimes we have to take matters into our own hands to secure the safety of our loved ones and others. All the characters tie into the same topic and bring a sense of urgency to the matter at hand. With no true ending to the story, it really shows that it is left up to us to make the outcome a happy one.”

“It most certainly brought a serious issue to my attention that I failed to realize prior…. The absolute most alarming comment I heard…was about that articleconcerning the contamination…. Hearing and reading that is what did it for me. I am certainly looking at the Meadowlands in a completely different way now.”

“The area does need to get cleaned up if it is having this much of an effect on the people who live near it. We can’t allow the protected areas of northeastern New Jersey to waste away. I enjoyed the fact that the play provided a [good] forum to pass along that message.”

“I was surprised about how much I actually liked the play. I felt that it was a little sad because the entire story was basically about people who were getting sick because of the chemicals at the Meadowlands…. The one fact that caught my attention most was actually mentioned after the play when the audience spoke with the cast and crew…. One of the cast members mentioned that she did some research about the Meadowlands…and she found out that the construction company that was building Xanadu found tons of contaminated soil on the actual grounds of the Meadowlands. It was alarming to me because I live in Nutley and am only about ten minutes away from the Meadowlands.”

“So, unlike most people who may have seen this performance, I saw Xanadu as a good thing before I saw the negative side. I also had some other mixed emotions from the performance because of the strong sense of pride I have from living in New Jersey.”

“Having worked in the Meadowlands area for over 18 years and being part of the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce, I was familiar with a lot of the play’s content. The actors that portrayed the locals were right on as far as being from the Meadowlands/Secaucus area…. The Xanadu project is a disaster, and the environmental studies that are portrayed in the play are kind—they are actually much worse. It is an area where the politicians are desperate and willing to sacrifice almost anything for the dollar.”

“I wasn’t all too familiar with what was going on in the Meadowlands, but after seeing the play it gave me more knowledge of the things going on so close to home.”

“It seems that the performance attacked the Xanadu project…. Although they did discover toxic waste during construction, it just raises the awareness of illegal dumping going on in the area. I felt that every other line was a bash on the project instead of informing on what was done to help clean up the area. It’s not like Xanadu was dumping the waste, but they uncovered the illegal dumping. Yes, the giant shopping mall plaza which seems to be a staple of American values can be seen as an eyesore to some and [as] an opportunity to many.”

“While they took some creative liberty for the sake of the storyline, they clearly did their research on the potential health risks involved with exposure to the chemicals present in the Meadowlands. I’ve done volunteer work for an environmental organization in the Hudson Valley for a number of years and, while tying in legitimate environmental concerns for the sake of drama is a dangerous area from the environmentalists’ perspective, for what they were doing they were well informed and I feel they dramatized the issue well. Speaking as an environmentalist, though, it must be said that manipulating details for the sake of moving the storyline along can potentially hurt the cause…. So, while this was an entertaining theatrical production, I feel they’re walking on thin ice with a very serious and very real issue.”

“I like how they incorporated humor into the play. I enjoyed the Q&A session after the play and found it interesting as to who they had interviewed. While the cast did admit they threw in some dramatic effects, it really makes you wonder what the side effects can be from the toxicity of the place.”

“The topic of pollution and the whole Xanadu issue is nothing new to me, but it was interesting to see how others viewed the whole subject…. The play portrayed much of the concerns that my girlfriend’s family and neighbors have regarding the building of Xanadu and the destruction of the Meadowlands…. Everyone in the area is worried that this glorified eyesore is going to bring massive amounts of traffic to an already over-congested area, as well as the fact that thousands of acres of important marshlands are being polluted and destroyed for a very unnecessary reason.”

“I enjoyed the show, although a bit depressing. I kept thinking: “I think I need to leave NJ.” However, I am from a farm in Iowa and talk about toxic dumping. Farmers spread millions of anhydrous (among other chemicals) yearly on millions of acres of crops. A toxic free environment may not exist anywhere in the United States.”

“Who knows how widespread the influence of the Meadowlands could be and what the destruction of it could mean for our future? Some damage has been done, but the real question is: what can WE do about it? IS there something being done about it? Do we as human beings leave nature to eventually fix the mess, or do we take a more active role? I liked how the performance put the spotlight on this issue where characters debated whether to try to change things, leave the area, or to just do nothing.”