This weekend, the UF Center for Arts in Medicine will explore border control, immigration and the Trump administration on stage.
The play, “Building the Wall,” was written by playwright Robert Schenkkan in 2016 after President Donald Trump won the election. It chronicles an interview between a historian and a former detention facility warden.
“Building the Wall” will run from Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Civic Media Center. Tickets for the play will be $10 each.
Andy Prescott, a 33-year-old UF fine arts graduate student, produced and is acting in the play as Rick, a former facility warden who awaits sentencing for crimes that happened under his watch.
Prescott produced and acted in the play as part of his degree’s internship requirement, which he is completing with the UF Center for Arts in Medicine.
While the play was written in 2016, it is set two years in the future. Prescott said Schenkkan used the “anti-immigration rhetoric” of the Trump administration to predict what would happen during his presidency.
Prescott said the play has been accurate since Trump took office. In the play, Schenkkan questions new immigration policy could change history.
Prescott said after the play, he will host a discussion, where he hopes audience members can freely, respectfully discuss their opinions on the topics in the show.
“We want to allow the community to find this sense of catharsis and growth and strengthen them through the cutbacks of a pretty heavy play like this,” Prescott said.
The play will be presented by The UF Center for Arts in Medicine, as well as The Civic Media Center, Veterans for Peace, Welcoming Gainesville & Alachua County, UF Chispas, UF College Democrats, a speech and debate group, The Human Rights Coalition, Rural Women’s Health Project and Madres Sin Fronteras.
Proceeds from the play will go to the Human Rights Coalition’s Community ID Drive, which helps give IDs to citizens who do not meet the requirement for government IDs, according to the coalition’s website.
Brittney Caldwell, an actress and UF master’s of fine arts alumna, will play Gloria, an African American historian who interviews the former warden. Caldwell said it wasn’t difficult for her to relate to the role.
“The topic of immigration and the racial tensions in this country is something that we deal with on a daily basis here,” Caldwell said. “It might’ve been hard to understand maybe 10 years ago, but right now with everything being so tense, it just feels like a page out of every day.”
The film "Human" is part of the Civic Media Center's "Movie Monday Film Series."
