Ali Namayandeh: Wildfire Impacts on California Farmworkers

Stanford’s new Doerr School of Sustainability is integrating theater and environmental justice with the premiere of “Hidden Strawberries,” a play by Ali Namayandeh. Debuting from October 16-19 at the Stanford Live Bing Studio, the production focuses on the experiences of California farmworkers affected by escalating wildfires.

The inspiration for the play emerged from research in Dr. Scott Fendorf’s lab at Stanford. As a NSF Postdoctoral fellow working with Fendorf, Namayandeh was among the researchers studying the toxic metals in soil and smoke during wildfires from more than 10 major wildfires in the western US. With his background in environmental geochemistry and theater, Namayandeh recognized eco-theater could raise awareness around the environmental dangers faced by marginalized communities, particularly farmworkers who have to work in wildfire smoke.

Interviews were conducted with the farmworkers in Watsonville with the help of farmworker advocacy group Center for Farmworker Families and students from Stanford University and San Jose State University. Listening to their experiences during wildfires, Namayandeh wrote the play, intersecting issues of migration, labor, environmental degradation, and personal identity, seen through the eyes of Valentina, a young woman from Mexico searching for her missing brother, Rodrigo, who disappeared while trying to cross the U.S. border.

The project is supported by Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and Stanford Arts through the Burt McMurtry Arts Initiatives Fund.

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