The Ford/Hill Project at BAM Fisher Restages Thomas and Kavanaugh Hearings
Directed by Lee Sunday Evans and featuring Elizabeth Marvel, "The Ford/Hill Project" is a sixty-five-minute verbatim theatre piece presented at BAM Fisher. It intertwines testimonies from the Supreme Court hearings of Clarence Thomas in 1991 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. The cast includes Marvel portraying Christine Blasey Ford, Gabby Beans as Anita Hill, Josh Hamilton as Kavanaugh, and Teagle F. Bougere as Thomas, all utilizing earpieces to deliver authentic dialogue. The production juxtaposes Hill's allegations against Thomas with Ford's claims against Kavanaugh. Recordings from the hearings illustrate a persistent governmental influence over the past twenty-seven years. The play concludes with Thomas and Kavanaugh in judicial robes, while Hill and Ford observe, challenging the narrative of progress.
Key facts
- "The Ford/Hill Project" is a play directed by Lee Sunday Evans and featuring Elizabeth Marvel, Gabby Beans, Josh Hamilton, and Teagle F. Bougere.
- It is staged at BAM Fisher and runs sixty-five minutes.
- The script combines verbatim testimonies from the 1991 Clarence Thomas and 2018 Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
- Actors receive the testimony through earpieces, preserving stammers and halts not in official transcripts.
- The production includes recordings of the hearings, with one senator's voice (likely Patrick Leahy) heard at both hearings.
- The play ends with Thomas and Kavanaugh putting on court robes as Hill and Ford look on.
- The epigraph is Tiresias' warning to Creon from Antigone.
- The New Yorker critic covered the Kavanaugh hearings and references Toni Morrison's anthology "Race-ing Justice, En-gendering Power" and Kimberlé Crenshaw's analysis of Anita Hill's de-racing.
Entities
Artists
- Lee Sunday Evans
- Elizabeth Marvel
- Gabby Beans
- Josh Hamilton
- Teagle F. Bougere
- Clarence Thomas
- Brett Kavanaugh
- Christine Blasey Ford
- Anita Hill
- Patrick Leahy
- Joe Biden
- Orrin Hatch
- Toni Morrison
- Nell Irvin Painter
- Kimberlé Crenshaw
- Sophocles
- Tiresias
- Creon
- Antigone
Institutions
- BAM Fisher
- Supreme Court
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- The New Yorker
Locations
- Brooklyn
- United States
- Oklahoma
- Washington, D.C.
- Vermont
- Utah