SATE opens its “Season of Motherhood” with a world premiere by London-based playwright, Aurora Behlke. Commissioned by the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival for the Confluence Regional Writers Project, Confetti Kids is a tight 90 or so minutes, and a fascinating watch, whether you’re familiar with its subject matter or not.
In the early 1940s, tons of uranium were processed at the Mallinckrodt Chemical Works plant just north of downtown St. Louis for World War II’s Manhattan Project. As a result of improperly stored nuclear waste near Lambert Airport, radioactive byproducts leached into North St. Louis County’s Coldwater Creek, exposing several municipalities and neighborhoods along the creek’s 19-mile stretch to significantly higher rates of cancers and autoimmune conditions. Decades of government authorities downplaying known risks have made remediation a long, difficult struggle for residents of affected neighborhoods -- a struggle that continues today. Cleanup efforts and investigations have been underway for years, despite federal agency foot-dragging.
