Interview with Steen Hviid, about the play Bad Chemistry

 

 

Steen Hviid wrote the play Bad Chemistry, about people who are sickened by everyday chemicals, such as hairspray, cologne, paint, new carpets, and much else.

 

Keywords:    Bad Chemistry, theater play, multiple chemical sensitivity, MCS

 

 

EI Wellspring: What made you write a play?

 

Steen Hviid: I heard a theater in Sweden put up a play about someone with electrical hypersensitivity. I wanted to tell our stories directly to an audience, without being filtered by an outsider. I wanted to gradually explain things instead of just show shocking images.

 

EIW: What do you mean by outsider?

 

Steen: Nearly everything available about us is produced by someone who doesn’t live with the illness. It’s as if someone traveled to Brazil during Mardis Gras and then wrote a book or made a film about what living in Brazil is like. They simply have no idea what living with the illness is actually like, and why we do things we do to get by. Instead, they make these one-dimensional stories that make us look like freaks.

 

EIW: Did this all really happen?

 

Steen: The play is fiction, based on real events. I took elements of many people’s stories and combined them.

 

EIW: Did someone really say: “what can’t stand on its own must fall”?

 

Steen: Yes. That happened to a young woman in Texas. It was her own brother who said it. It is so outlandish I could not have come up with it myself.

 

EIW: Jasper, Lisa and the others are worst cases of the illness?

 

Steen: It can get worse, but you can’t portray that on a stage very well.

 

EIW: What about the milder cases?

 

Steen: The vast majority of people with this disease have the milder versions. They have jobs and live a life that looks normal to other people. They use a lot fewer chemicals, watch what they eat, and take better care of themselves. I expect many don’t even know what it is they have.

 

EIW: Jasper is a man, but the other sick people are women. Why is that?

 

Steen: About 80% of the severe cases are women.

 

EIW: The play is a lot about cruelty and ignorance.

 

Steen: Yes, because that is how it often is. People can really act that way, including doctors and close family.

 

EIW: But there are some who help?

 

Steen: Yes, I do mention a couple in the play, and I have been very lucky myself. My boss and coworkers were great at helping out, as was my family, but most of us are not that lucky. A few doctors also help.

 

EIW: It seems complicated to live with the illness.

 

Steen: I actually had to simplify things, but there is enough so the audience will get a taste. I totally omitted how people cope with losing income from work, applying for disability, and all that. That whole circus could take up the whole play by itself.

 

EIW: You mention that $5 million for research disappeared. Did that really happen?

 

Steen: Yes it did. You can look up the story, it is well documented that virtually nothing was produced by those who received the money.

 

EIW: Does fermented ginger from Tibet really work?

 

Steen: Not that I know of. I just wanted something that sounded plausible. There are literally hundreds of such things people have tried.

 

EIW: There is no big drama on the scene, they just talk about it. Why don’t you show it when Jasper is taken to the hospital?

 

Steen: I think it is difficult to show reactions to chemicals on a stage, even with a professional actor. Besides, that scene would add more characters and I wanted to make it possible to perform the play with a small cast.

 

EIW: Are there real camps, like the one in the play?

 

Steen: I’m not aware of any right now, but I know five that used to exist. Two were in Texas, the others were in New Mexico, Arizona and France. I have lived in one, and visited two others.

 

EIW: Why did they close?

 

Steen: The American camps were all owned by individuals. Most camps were closed when the owner became too old. It is very sad they are gone, they really helped a lot of people.

 

EIW: Where do people camp instead?

 

Steen: They rent a piece of land, stay on public land, in people’s yards, in church parking lots, or other places. I have had people camp in my own yard several times. Most camp by themselves, though I know people who have camped together in small groups.

 

EIW: Do people really get married in such a camp?

 

Steen: I have met two couples who were married while living in a camp in Texas. I don’t know how they actually did the ceremonies.

 

EIW: Why that ending?

 

Steen: I wanted it to end on a positive note, despite it all. It is not a Hollywood ending, but I wanted to give the audience something positive.

 

EIW: What do you hope will happen with the play?

 

Steen: That someone will perform it, perhaps a small theater, an amateur group, or a high school. People can also just read the script by itself. Maybe a filmmaker will get inspired to make something authentic.

 

 

More information

The play script is at www.eiwellspring.org/stories/Bad_Chemistry_theater.htm.

 

For information about multiple chemical sensitivities: www.eiwellspring.org/intromenu.html.

 

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