The Garbologists

DANNY
is the​ 
white
male
blue collar
​New York City sanitation worker
MARLOWE
is the 
​Black
female
ivy-educated 
​newbie who just joined his route
​​​Thrown together by the job, they spend their shifts bickering, one-upping each other, and practicing the secret art of mongo: hunting for treasure in the trash.  But as their lives become increasingly entwined, they discover some things are easier to toss than others.
Honoring our essential workers, The Garbologists is a hopeful story about  finding common ground in uncommon times.
  • City Theatre: World Premiere (slated 2021)
  • Ensemble Studio Theatre Sloan Science and Technology Commission
  • 2020 Kilroys List
  • ​2019 Kilroys List Honorable Mention​
  • NNPN Collaboration Grant: w/ Curious Theatre, Denver
  • Susan Smith Blackburn Nomination​
  • NNPN Collaboration Grant: w/ Curious Theatre, Denver​
  • Finalist, Leah Ryan's FEWW
  • Finalist, SPACE residency
  • Finalist, BRIClab residency
  • Finalist, Florida Rep Playlab​
  • Finalist, Bay Area Playwrights Festival

THEATER IN THE TIME OF COVID:

Socially Distanced, Hyper-Local
Picture
Spearheaded by City Theatre (Artistic Dir: Marc Masterson), we aim to create community engaging, socially distanced productions of The Garbologists in theaters, parks, parking lots, and site-specific locations across the country.
Social Distance Friendly
​Whether in a theater or outdoors, "Drive-In" style or on bleachers or lawn chairs, the play is crafted for the artists and audience members to enjoy live theater safely.  The two actors are gloved throughout the play and can remain 6 feet apart at all times, per current CDC guidelines.

Outdoor Friendly
All scenes take place outdoors.  The runtime of the play is 70-80 minutes, limiting the need for restroom facilities or childcare.

Budget Friendly
A 2-hander with no scenic requirements and no costume changes. May be staged with a real garbage truck or abstractly with chairs/blocks.  All props are "trash" and found objects.

Family Friendly
The Garbologists is rated PG/PG-13.  It contains no physical intimacy, violence, drug use, or references to the above.  Limited profanity (that may be modified by request).

Hyper Local
Many opportunities for community engagement with local food trucks and vendors, local sanitation workers, and local artists, organizations, and audiences.  This highly mobile "truck play" allows staging in multiple locations and configurations.

HONORING ESSENTIAL WORKERS
Chicago sanitation worker Sammy Dattulo: 

"We can't stop doing what we're doing.  We have to do our job.  It's just like the first responders.  We serve.  And now we're protecting, because, if we don't get their garbage, they got all this bacteria.  And people can get infected by that.  I take pride in my job, I love my job.  I can't wait to get up in the morning and go to work because I love my job."   -- PBS NewsHour

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: Interviews with San Men

In the parking lot of Curious Theatre and a DSNY garage in Manhattan, sanitation workers teach playwright Lindsay Joelle how to operate the truck.
DENVER
NEW YORK

SANITATION LINGO: "Mongo"

MARLOWE
What's Mongo?
DANNY
​Mongo: Verb. To scavenge.
Noun. Junk.
Use it in a sentence:
​"Heck yeah, I'd mongo this mongo."
MARLOWE
Stealing: Gerund. Taking something that's not yours.
DANNY
Where do you think we get half the stuff in the garage?  The TV.  The microwave.  The foosball table...
Photos of DSNY's private museum of mongo and trash found on  route

CONTACT

For more information or to discuss bringing The Garbologists to your neighborhood, email:

Beth Blickers, APA
bblickers@apa-agency.com