Katrina (Modern Plays)

This play uses survivor testimony and the rich cultural tradition of New Orleans to tell the story of the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Playwright Jonathan Holmes sheds light on some of the more extraordinary and under-reported aspects of the tragedy, the play portrays the odyssey through a series of encounters with individuals displaced and abandoned within their own city where 80% of the homes were eventually underwater. The plot follows the death of Virgil, a decadent old New Orleanian who was trapped by the rising floodwater and killed. His partner Beatrice is determined to take his body to safety at City Hall. During her journey she encounters other survivors and hears their harrowing tales.