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January 19, 2011
IN THE FOOTPRINT: THE BATTLE OVER ATLANTIC YARDS
Dig Boston
by Hilary Hughes
The Civilians have taken the story of Atlantic Yards to Boston.
“I love doing this play as much as it hurts my heart to be in it.”
This is Colleen Werthmann, a member of The Civilians, on their new production, In The Footprint: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards. Focused on the controversial housing project in Brooklyn, In The Footprint tells the story of Atlantic Yards, which, if seen to completion, will result in 16 high-rise buildings and a sports arena, across 22 acres in Prospect Park and Fort Greene.
That's Prospect Heights and Fort Greene. Don't give Bruce Ratner any ideas.
The themes of In The Footprint apply to any major city that’s experienced significant urban development. “A lot of people who lived in these neighborhoods aren’t necessarily aware of the good stuff activists are doing, like keeping a corrupt housing developer from putting up a shady halfway house in your neighborhood or preventing the municipal water supply from into a dumping pond,” says Werthmann.
“New York, like many cities, is constantly in flux, and I found it really simultaneously satisfying and harrowing to engage with that topic on so brutal a level.”
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Boston.com, To do list
Boston had its share of contentious development projects, including the remaking of Scollay Square and the failed relocation of the Patriots’ stadium, but a Brooklyn land-development project is the subject of The Civilians’ “In the Footprint: The Battle Over Atlantic Yards.’’ Performances by this investigative theater company are presented by ArtsEmerson: The World on Stage. 7:30 p.m. (through Jan. 23). $39. Recommended for ages 14 and older. Paramount Black Box, 559 Washington St., Boston. 617-824-8000.
Posted by eric at January 19, 2011 9:23 AM