Fest Fast Facts

1. There are over one million adults, children and infants buried on Hart Island, and burials continue to this day, conducted by inmates on Riker’s Island, who receive $.50/hour for their labor.
2. We first read about Hart Island in 2011, and immediately felt compelled to imagine the lives of people whose stories intersected with the island. We imagined Charles and Marielena nine years ago, but it took us several years until we had time to write the show, and five years to get it to this point.
3. We visited Hart Island a couple of years ago. Every month, the public can sign up for a short ferry ride to the island and then the opportunity to stand in a designated area on Hart Island. Seeing it with our own eyes, standing on the sacred ground with our own feet was utterly transformative. Much of Charles’ description of the Island in the song “Isla So Beautiful” was inspired by our visit to the Island. A Captain with the Department of Corrections oversaw the group and answered our questions. He genuinely believed that the men who worked on the burial crew were changed for the better by their work, and that most considered it an honor to work on the Island. We modeled a character after him.
4. We imagine a production of Hart Island would reflect the simple beauty and solemnity of the island itself, and that somehow, the presence of Hart Island would always be felt. Time and place are fluid throughout the show, and the locations can be suggestive, with details such as the prison uniforms, the rough-hewn pine boxes, the blanket, helping to ground us in the specific.
5. We sincerely hope Hart Island will be produced, and that audiences will have the opportunity to grieve, and grow, with Charles and Marielena.