[SEMCO] CCS Brings Rachel Carson stage play to Provincetown

[Tracey Crago]

CCS to Celebrate Life of Rachel Carson Sponsors Stage Play at 
Provincetown Theater
 
(Provincetown) - The Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) is bringing the 
nationally-renown play A Sense of Wonder, based on the life of Rachel 
Carson, to the Provincetown Theater on November 20 and 21. 

Hailed by Time Magazine as one of its most influential people of the 
century, Rachel Carson (1907 - 1964) was a junior biologist with the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1936 when few women worked in 
government civil service jobs.  Eventually she became editor-in-chief of 
all materials the agency distributed for public consumption.  While 
working for the government she found time to write the first of three 
influential books about the sea, Under the Sea Wind (1941). 
 
She resigned from government service in 1952 to write full time.  Her 
next books were The Sea Around Us (1951) and The Edge of the Sea 
(1955).  Her love of nature did not end at the shore.  In 1957 Ms. 
Carson began work on Silent Spring, her most noteworthy book which 
focused on the dangers of pesticides.  While its 1962 publication raised 
the ire of the chemical industry, the book recruited a new generation of 
environmentalists including President John F. Kennedy.

Rachel Carson died of breast cancer in 1964 in the midst of defending 
Silent Spring.  A year later, The Sense of Wonder was published 
posthumously and provided inspiration for this play. 

"Silent Spring was a clarion call, sounded well before Earth Day and her 
congressional testimony, which led to the banning of DDT, helped define 
the role of the citizen-scientist'" says Peter Borrelli, CCS executive 
director.  "I think it is accurate to say that she almost 
single-handedly focused national attention on the proliferation of toxic 
chemicals," Borrelli adds.

Bringing the essence of Carson to stage is actress and playwright 
Kaiulani Lee.  She has appeared in numerous on and off-Broadway 
productions and in well-known television series such as The Waltons, 
Tales from the Dark Side, and Law & Order.  Lee's motion picture credits 
include The World According to Garp, Cujo, The Fan, The Seduction of Joe 
Tynan, and Compromising Positions.  Act one of this one-woman play is 
set in Carson's beloved Maine coastal cottage in 1962 as she packs for a 
trip to Maryland to defend Silent Spring.  The second act portrays 
Carson in failing health in her Maryland home, reflecting on the writing 
of Silent Spring while battling thunderous criticism of its content. 

Performances of A Sense of Wonder are at 8 p.m. on Saturday, November 
20, and Sunday, November 21 at 3 p.m.  Tickets are $50 per person and 
proceeds benefit the Center for Coastal Studies.  A limited number of 
priority seats are available for $150 per person and include a post-show 
reception with Ms. Lee after Saturday's performance.  The reception will 
be held at Fanizzi's, 539 Commercial Street, a five-minute walk from the 
theater.

Phone (508) 487- 9793 to order tickets from Noon to 5 p.m., 7 days per 
week, or go on-line to ptowntix.com.  The Provincetown Theater is 
located at 238 Bradford Street in the East End.  Four of Ms. Carson's 
books, Silent Spring, Under the Sea Wind, The Sea Around Us, and Edge of 
the Sea, are available through the CCS gift shop 
[www.coastalstudies.org] and will be available for sale following the play.

Since 1976, scientists at the Provincetown-based Center for Coastal 
Studies have researched marine mammals of the western North Atlantic, 
and coastal and marine habitats and resources of the Gulf of Maine.  CCS 
promotes stewardship of coastal and marine ecosystems, including Cape 
Cod Bay.  The Center's public policy program, Coastal Solutions 
Initiative (CSI,) examines issues and conflicts affecting the coastal 
and marine environment and seeks creative solutions based on the 
principles of conservation biology, sustainability, and ecosystem based 
management.

Bringing A Sense of Wonder to its hometown of Provincetown enables the 
Center for Coastal Studies to balance art and science while fulfilling 
its mission statement to educate and encourage responsible use and 
conservation of coastal and marine ecosystems.

For information please contact Theresa Barbo, Development Committee, CCS 
Board of Directors, at (508) 362-1222.

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