‘The Poisoner’ to make stop in De Pere on national tour

Inspired by the Flint water crisis, The Poisoner, a neo-noir thriller, is setting out on a seven-city national tour this fall with plans for a three-show run in De Pere Oct. 15-17.

The Poisoner is a universal tale — an unraveling of the deception, abuse of power, and utter negligence of early 2000s Midwestern water politics. Driven by a determined journalist who returns to his hometown and uncovers more than he bargained for, the play invites audiences to ask: are we ever safe?

“The Poisoner is sort of loosely based on the events of the water crisis, but ultimately it’s a play about governance and power and institutional failure…” said M.M. Haney, writer of the show. “Like many, I was really emotionally wrecked by the Flint water crisis. I’m from Michigan, I grew up in Michigan and I had family members that were nearby. But the story that I didn’t feel like was being told was the story of the institutions that had failed the people of Flint. There were a lot of stories that were about the suffering, which is very important, but I think the bigger story that Flint highlights for us… is about who has the power to make decisions about water. I wanted to tell the story of how it happened that this crisis was allowed to occur.”

The production is a fictional work inspired by the Flint water crisis of 2014, aiming to engage audiences and amplify awareness about the persistent challenges faced in Flint, Pittsburgh and other communities who have grappled with similar crises.

“I’m really hopeful that people have a deeply emotional relationship to the uncovering of all of these layers of how governmental decisions and governmental operations end up affecting people’s life, people’s safety and people’s experience of something as elemental to their survival as water,” said Director Lee Sunday Evans. “I think government can sometimes feel like something that can be a little abstract, but I think the play gives you a really extraordinary window into how emotional it is… I hope people have a really good time hearing this kind of extraordinary, thrilling story the way you think about a good detective movie, but also that they come away remembering how emotional and how gripping it is to think about how our government serves us and why it is so important that we have this kind of fundamental social contract that the government is here to protect and serve the interests of the people.”

In each tour city, Uncommon Productions and Citizen56 will engage directly with local communities — connecting with organizers, advocates and residents fighting for clean air, safe water and community control of local natural resources.

In De Pere, two talkbacks will occur following performances.

On Thursday, Oct. 15, the talkback will feature Jayne Black, an organizer with Mom’s Clean Air Force of Wisconsin who played a role in the fight to stop the development of a data center in Greenleaf.

On Friday, Oct. 16, the talkback will feature Laura Springer, executive director of the Clean Water Action Council, who has a local campaign to educate the public about the dangers of PFAS in drinking water.

Learn more about the show and purchase tickets at the-poisoner-de-pere.eventbrite.com.