Theatre UAB presents first reading of new play “Ushuaia Blue”

A new play commissioned by Antarctica marine biologist James McClintock will have its first public reading Saturday, Sept. 22, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The play, “Ushuaia Blue,” was conceived and written by playwright Caridad Svich. The College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Theatre will present the reading, directed by Dennis McLernon using UAB students and faculty in the cast.

The reading of “Ushuaia Blue” is set for 7 p.m., in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, Odess Theatre. A response session with the audience will take place after the reading.

McClintock is a UAB University Professor who holds the Endowed Professorship in Polar and Marine Biology. He recently returned from his 15th expedition to Antarctica, researching with his colleagues aspects of the ecology of the rich Antarctic seafloor communities. Their work includes studies of how important ecological interactions are largely influenced through the production of chemical defenses and whether some of these chemicals may have biomedical potential. In previous and planned research, he and his colleagues also study dramatic ecological effects of climate change on marine life along the Antarctic Peninsula.

“As an Antarctic marine biologist confronting climate change, I am invested in educating the general public about the increasing impacts of global climate change through creative vehicles in the arts and the sciences,” McClintock said. “My contribution to the play’s narrative is through a series of written interviews between Caridad and me about my life and life’s work in Antarctica.”

Svich says she was moved by McClintock’s extensive research, and also his personal connection to the Antarctic landscape. She pulled very loosely from these interviews in creating the script of “Ushuaia Blue,” but largely created a fictional voyage that touches on whimsy, romance, tragedy and concern for the planet’s future. It is a privilege to respond to his research and connections in this imaginative way, she says.

This will be the first time Svich has heard the play out loud, she says.

“I often describe it to people as a love story about a couple that is trying to stay together,” Svich said. “Both of them are climate change scientists. They journey to Antarctica for another expedition, right at the point when their relationship is starting to become fragile.”