![[logo] Crest of the University of Wisconsin-Madison](/images/crest.png)
![[logo] Ask a Librarian](/images/ask.png)
« Back to All News Releases
New play uses oral history to craft story of the 1970 Sterling Hall bombing
Posted 2/15/2012
MADISON, Wis. –Uncivil Disobedience, a new play from Madison’s Forward Theatre Company, examines an important event in Wisconsin’s history, inspired by stories and interviews from those it directly or indirectly affected.
When a bomb exploded just outside Sterling Hall in the early morning hours of August 24, 1970, it was a thunderous event in the history of Wisconsin. Intended to destroy the Army Mathematics Research Center, it caused enormous damage to the building and killed physics researcher Robert Fassnacht and injured three other people. While the AMRC was not affected by the blast, many people on both sides of the anti-war movement were.
Mike Lawler of the Wisconsin Story Project, in conjunction with Troy Reeves of the Oral History Program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has spent several years conducting interviews and collecting stories from people who were there – and those whose lives were profoundly changed by the aftermath. These stories form the basis of a theatrical piece exploring the impact of the bombing on campus, and also within the larger protest movement of the 60s and 70s.
Forward Theater New Play Series - http://www.forwardtheater.com/on-stage/new-play-series
Wisconsin Story Project - http://www.wisconsinstory.org/
Oral History Program Sterling Hall page - http://archives.library.wisc.edu/oral-history/CampusVoices/SterlingHall/index.html
