A new musical set in Oregon is taking on big questions about global warming, human responsibility and the emotional weight of living through rapid environmental change.
“WaterWorks,” written and composed by Eugene-based artist and retired scientist Anice Thigpen, blends opera-style singing with musical theater. The production draws on her background in science and personal struggles with climate change to explore how people relate to the natural world and each other.
“WaterWorks is made in Oregon, by Oregonians, for Oregonians,” Thigpen said. “It’s specifically about what it means for me, and I hope all of us, to live here in this unique place at this one-of-a-kind time in human development.”
The musical — with the tagline, “Where there is water, there is life” — is set along the central Oregon coast. Here, Thigpen said she has personally witnessed the ecological impacts of climate change.
“We had what is called an ocean ‘blob’ a few years ago, and then for years we didn’t see any starfish; the tide pool is all of a sudden not the same tide pool,” she said. “We started to see a die-off of firs and then spruce, with the temperatures and the drought. Of course, the declining populations of fish.”
At the center of the musical are competing visions for the region’s future. One character is a lifelong conservationist with deep ties to protecting the land. Another is an urban developer who wants to build a carbon-free city.
“She believes that humans, the way forward, is for us to learn to live with the accoutrements of civilization in a sustainable way,” Thigpen said of the second character.
Rather than framing the conflict in simple terms, Thigpen said she sees both perspectives as part of the human experience.
“Just like I was in the group of investors who were signing here to help fund WaterWorks, I am also the protestor freezing on that cold rainy morning on the riverside, ‘No, you can’t build your city here,’” she said. “Doesn’t all that live in you? We are both; we are all.”
For Thigpen, those competing ideas reflect a larger reality she’s spent years thinking about. As a retired scientist, she said her background helped her understand the scale of environmental change, but not how to process it emotionally.
“I can have a rational conversation with you about what it means to be a human, at this unique time, but the emotions around that issue are complicated, dense and hard for me to process,” she said. “There is no time in human history that is comparable to the moment at which all of us are now living.”
Thigpen said that moment is often described by scientists as a mass extinction event, when a significant percentage of life on Earth dies out.
“This is new to us, in which 75% or more of all life goes extinct in a relatively short period of time. Now, that might be 10s of millions of years, but still in terms of Earth’s history, that’s whistlin’ Dixie,” she said. “That’s what I mean when no human has been here before.”
Scientists have identified five mass extinction events in Earth’s history. Many researchers say the planet may now be in its sixth, due to human activity.
WaterWorks offered Thigpen a chance to explore the tension of understanding the problem and also being part of it.
“I can’t actually kid myself that I am living a sustainable life because that gives me about one gallon of gas per year, living in a space of about no more than 100 square feet, and neither cooling nor heating that space, and eating a very different diet,” she said. “ Even though I might donate to and work in conservation, I’m not living a sustainable life.”
Thigpen’s characters, and the musical at large, explore these kinds of internal conflicts rather than offer clear answers to real-world climate challenges.
“I don’t really give you answers. I just sort of pose questions that I struggled with,” she said. “I feel like I needed to do this for me emotionally, so I’m really grateful to be able to use music for emotional work.”
Thigpen said she hopes audiences leave the performance entertained, yes, but also asking their own questions.
“‘What do I think, what do I feel, what do I want to do differently?’” Thigpen said. “I think in this rapid rate of change, these are good questions to pose individually and collectively.”
If you go
WaterWorks premieres Friday, May 1, at Lane Community College’s Ragozzino Performance Hall and runs through Sunday, May 3. There are two evening performances and one matinee.
Tickets will be sold on a sliding scale for audience members to choose the amount they feel comfortable paying. Organizers said their hope is for individuals to pay between $10 and $40. A portion of ticket proceeds benefits the McKenzie River Trust.
