THE THRUTH HAS CHANGED
Josh Fox released in 2010 a documentary GASLAND that won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance, and seemingly as many fans as enemies. Ten years later, this New York theatre director turned documentarian returned to New York to appear at The Public Theatre in his unforgettable, multi-media one man show The Truth Has Changed in the 2020 Under The Radar Series.
As a verbal showman, he has mastered the art of suspense, surprise, and nuance. He is mesmerizing as his voice rises and dips, he flips the lights, picks up a banjo, jumps on a table and pauses while a projection singes our nerves. But Fox isn’t here to entertain us. He reports the evils of fracking, and its global repercussions to our health and climate change, along with the ocean of misinformation spread by white supremacists. He outlines, with as much restrain as he can muster, the revenge of the gas and oil industry he experienced since 2010 and how methodical that backlash was. He holds the microphone out to the audience towards the close of the show, asking them what is stronger than fear? A few tentative voices say “Love” and “Hope,” wistfully.
Fox is haunted by the stories of his grandfathers. One bolted from Poland the night before the rest of his family were seized and sent to the gas chambers and the other took his life here in the United States. Did he dig his own grave by producing GASLAND? Are we all walking blindly in a world that is becoming a gas chamber? Though we may not need to be convinced of the havoc caused by fracking and the apocalyptic level of chemical pollution in our water, food and air, he makes us focus on how slippery our hold on the truth really is.
But still he pushes on with an insatiable curiosity to know what is going on. He investigated the damage done by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. A scientist confessed that BP had released a chemical to make the oil sink out of sight, “killing everything on the sea floor for generations to come.” Fox says that an order had been made to keep planes flying over the gulf above 3,000 feet. But he finagled an opportunity to see the difference in the view below and above 3,000 feet. Above 3,000 feet, the gulf seems to be in fine fettle; below 3,000 feet, he could see the oil hanging in the water like a tumor that spread for miles. Produced by International WOW Company and Nathan Lemoine, THE TRUTH HAS CHANGED changes its viewers.
Towards the end of the show, I felt so grateful that I wasn’t pregnant. After the above review was published in Eye on the Arts, I kept wondering who benefits from climate denial and fake news. Do the white supremacists have a way of escaping all this madness?
Could this scenario be happening…
Real Espace Agent But darling, no one goes to the Hamptons anymore. Anyone with a lick of sense has their second home on another planet. Video games are just the poor man’s version of what all our friends are doing. Writing their future, buying seeds and species to plant on their chosen planet.
Shopper No!
Agent Yes!
The masters of the universe are intent on destroying this planet while they focus on the next new thing.
Shopper Why?
Agent. Darling. Don’t you think it’s time to begin anew. This place is just so sordid, toxic. The demographics are simply not supporting a rescue plan. Time to declare bankruptcy and call it quits.
Shopper Well that’s a lot to digest. So have you been everywhere that has been seeded?
Agent Most of them.
Shopper Which one is yours?
Agent Which what?
Shopper Which is your favorite go-to place?
Agent Oh I couldn’t say… just like that. It’s of course top secret, concealed from all the search engines for security purposes…otherwise what’s the point?
Shopper. Wow something can really elude all that. I guess that’s reassuring to know that there’s a Houdini factor in all this. I had no idea.
Agent Did you really think Mother Nature was going to just mope around and see all her creations destroyed. Of course she saw it all coming 100 years ago. She has been convinced to re-seed in other galaxies. She’s definitely bi-planetarial.
Shopper So how long have been selling ….celestially?
Agent Too long. No no it’s good. Really good. I should say warn you though, they don’t just let anyone in. Money is not the deciding factor.
Shopper You mean I should be careful whom I hang with then?
Agent Exactly. If you are serious about your request, prepare for a Very intense period of scrutiny. They will need to know what you read, watch, buy, where you go, eat, think. Very low tolerance for questioning. Very intense. You thought a coop board was bad!