Eddie Bean

The Waterkeepers

or, the mayor’s proposal for efficient flocculation in light of recent controversy

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The pursuit of clean water in the United States is a fraught endeavor. A perfect storm of outdated infrastructure and organized resistance to environmentalist policies mean that clean drinking water is an uncertain and shrinking commodity. All the while, questions about water quality are complicated by pollution-induced algal blooms, government inaction, and conspiracies about what water treatment does or seeks to do. Attempts to improve the environment and public health are stymied by dangerously unfounded ideas, ranging from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s assertion that chemicals in water are turning frogs gay, to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s unscientific crusade against life-saving vaccines. Propaganda targeting the LGBTQ+ community is likewise part of this matrix, with pools and bathrooms as sites where draconian laws seek to harm, exclude, and incarcerate. Within this landscape, fighting for clean water and environmental justice likewise requires a fight against disinformation and bigotry.

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Inspired by these interlocking issues, as well as the ongoing water crisis in Flint, MI and 2014 water crisis in Toledo, OH, this project explores how we search for truth and connection in an age of disinformation, and how we seek justice and expand our horizons against a skewed and shrinking national landscape. The musical is an ensemble piece about a town where a water crisis and corrupt local government collide during the hottest summer on record. After a queer teenage activist mysteriously disappears at the nearby quarry, the teen’s conformist mother and a recently laid-off journalist investigate the showboating mayor’s cover-up – and stumble onto a tech-driven and galaxy-spanning conspiracy. This piece satirizes our current moment of disinformation, emphasizing the need for grassroots community action, and prioritizing the common good over corporate gains.

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