The Peoples Temple Project
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 In 2001, in recognition of the fast-approaching 25 memorial of the Jonestown tragedy, The Z Space Studio launched The Peoples Temple Project, by commissioning the creation of a play to be based on interviews and historical documents pertaining to Peoples Temple. The goal was straightforward: through the power of theater, to give voice to the individuals swept into that tragedy, many of whom are still our neighbors. We tapped a well of lingering grief, confusion, and stigma which runs deep and hot in our community to this day. To give space for the topic’s  complexity and room to the many individual stories, our project grew until it included four different Bay Area organizations pursuing five interrelated outcomes:
A Play
This world premiere of The People’s Temple is written by Leigh Fondakowski, with Greg Pierotti, Steven Wangh, and Margo Hall and directed by Leigh. The play’s researcher/archivist is Denice Stephenson. As the size of the play became clear, The Z Space and Leigh approached Berkeley Repertory Theatre to lead the world premiere production. The synergy of Berkeley Rep’s history of  producing new plays and the Z Space history of developing new work sparked the production, the book, the education project, and the dialogues.
An Archive
The Peoples Temple Collection at California Historical Society, which was the source of much of the research, has grown dramatically in size, scope, and usability during this project and it will also become the repository of the voluminous research materials collected during the process of creating the play.
A Book
Berkeley’s Heyday Books and California Historical Society, frequent collaborators in publishing California histories, have published Dear People: Remembering Jonestown. The opportunity also answered a long-standing interest in collaboration between Heyday and neighbor, Berkeley Rep. Edited by Denice Stephenson, the book uses documents from the CHS collection to further illuminate the complex human heart of the tragedy. Some of these documents are used in the play’s text.
An Education Project
All spring, Berkeley Rep teaching artists have been working with East Bay high schools, exploring both the history of Peoples Temple and the process of creating “verbatim text” theater. The students are presenting performances of their own works, based on research materials, during the course of the run of the play.
A Series of Public Dialogues
To offer the public an opportunity to enter the Peoples Temple discussion, and to reveal still more facets of the history that the play could not reasonably be called upon to contain, all four organizations are collaborating to present a series of talkbacks, panel discussions, and presentations throughout the run of the play. The dialogues are sponsored by The Walter and Elise Haas Fund. |
