jonestown
forgot i wrote this.
http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JonestownReport/Volume6/artwisniewski.htm
http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JonestownReport/Volume6/artwisniewski.htm
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“Playwright Considers Life for Adolescents
in Jonestown” by Anna Wisniewski
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I am a playwright looking for information about what
life was like for adolescents, especially young
people who were gay or bisexual, in Peoples
Temple and Jonestown. Dark Matter, the
working title of my play, is a work of fiction,
but I want it to be as accurate as I can make
it. It seems the more I read about Jonestown
and talk to the people involved, the more I
realize how much there is yet to be learned.
I want to do the story justice.
Set at Cornell University in 1982, Dark Matter
is a traditional two-act play about a young
man, Mundy Gato, working on his doctorate in
astronomy. Mundy's doing fine in school until
the anniversary of the Jonestown Massacre approaches.
Then he starts having nightmares, intrusive
memories, and flashbacks.
Mundy hasn't told anyone at Cornell that he is a Jonestown
survivor.
Recognizing that he is a fictional character, I have
placed Mundy in conversations I've learned about,
such as Vernon Gosney and Monica Bagby's plan
to leave with Congressman Ryan. Mundy leaves
with Ryan's party but, like others, is shot
during the ambush. Also like others, he left
behind family members who died at Jonestown.
Despite Mundy's best efforts at putting the experience
behind him, Jonestown maintains a strong hold
on his psyche. He realizes he can't keep Jonestown
a secret from everyone, but has already experienced
rejection after telling friends about his involvement
with the Temple. Mundy's dilemma is how much
to share and who he can trust. He is also afraid
that if he opens the floodgates of his memories
about Jonestown, he will become so incapacitated
that he won't be able to go on with school.
The character is based very loosely on real-life member
Keith Wade, a friend of Vernon and Monica. Keith
actually was in on their discussions about leaving
Jonestown, but ultimately did not join the "defectors"
on November 18th, and died with the
others at Jonestown. I hope to capture a sense
of what Keith's life might have been, had he
survived, to help audiences understand the larger
losses.
I'd also like to learn more about Tommy Bogue, the young
man who led some children into the jungle during
the ambush, and all survived.
In doing background for my character, I decided that
Mundy joined the Temple in 1973 with his mother
and siblings when he was 12 years old. For the
next five years, Mundy and his family lived
communally in San Francisco and then in Jonestown.
What I would like to ask former Temple members and relatives
who read this report is for your recollections
of what it was like for Temple youths: how did
adolescents date, experiment with sex, and form
friendships. I'd like to know what it was like
for a young gay person growing up in the Temple
communes. Would Mundy, who is bisexual, be easy
with his sexuality, or would he have hang-ups
and fears? How would the Jonestown community
have treated him?
I'd also like to know about the Jonestown School. Would
Mundy have been adequately prepared to enter
a highly competitive university such as M.I.T.,
Harvard, or Cornell and study physics?
I'd love to hear from people who have recollections
of growing up in the Peoples Temple. Stories
about Keith Wade, Tommy Bogue, or any of the
young people who were punished for trying to
escape Jonestown would be invaluable.
I'd greatly appreciate any thoughts about being lesbian,
gay, bisexual, or transgendered in the Temple,
and any insights about LGBT life after Peoples
Temple.
I'd also like to learn about opportunities in the Peoples
Temple and Jonestown for more informal learning
from mentors or independent reading and study.
For example, would there have been an opportunity
for stargazing at night?
Thank you to all of you for sharing your experiences
and stories so openly.
(Anna Wisniewski is a freelance writer and psychiatric
nurse living on Cudjoe Key in the Florida Keys
with her wife and three Abyssinian cats. Under
the creative and incredibly supportive tutelage
of the writing and theatre communities in Key
West, she's had feature articles, poetry, and
fiction published, and a staged reading of a
prior play. She may be reached at kwanna1008@gmail.com or at 305-395-0108.)
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