Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere

On November 21-23 2019, at 7:30 pm, and on November 24 2019, at 2:00 pm, The UF Center for Arts in Medicine will present a production of the play, Building the Wall, by Robert Schennkan, at The Civic Media Center in downtown Gainesville. This production will be directed by Jeff Pufahl and starring UF MFA Acting Alumna Brittney Caldwell and third-year UF Acting MFA candidate, Andy Prescott.

Written just weeks after his election in 2016, Schennkan’s play projects the consequences of President Trump’s anti-immigration campaign rhetoric turned federal policy. Building the Wall takes place two years into an imagined Trump presidency, where that policy has resulted in the mass round-up of millions of undocumented immigrants, with their incarceration overflowing into private prisons and camps reminiscent of another century. The play focuses on the former warden of one facility, Rick, who is awaiting sentencing for what happened under his watch. In a riveting interview with Gloria, a historian who has come seeking the truth, Rick gradually reveals how the unthinkable became the inevitable.

The UF Center for Arts in Medicine will be presenting this play in collaboration with the following community stakeholders and local organizations: The Civic Media Center, Veterans for Peace, Welcoming Gainesville, Chispas, UF Democrats, Speech and Debate Society, The Human Rights Coalition, Rural Women’s Health Project, and Madres sin Fronteras. Proceeds of this event will be donated toward the The Human Rights Coalition’s Community ID Drive.

The overarching goal of this project is to create a stronger understanding of the health concerns surrounding detainment and child separation, as well as educating community members of the resources available to undocumented immigrants through discussion. Each performance will feature a talk-back afterward that aims to answer any questions, comments, or concerns surrounding the immigration crisis in the United States.