Inspired by a passage from Gabriel García Márquez's novella Sea of Lost Time—a town drowns on a Sunday afternoon but persists, submerged, in its daily life, as if the deluge had never occurred—Sea of Common Catastrophe follows the journey of four companions as they wade through a continually changing landscape of upscale living and chic restaurants built upon the fragments of their own displaced communities.

Sea of Common Catastrophe was developed in part through deep consideration of the profound transformations that have swept through New Orleans in the decade since Hurricane Katrina, and of our own roles and responsibilities as artists in the realities of gentrification and displacement.

Utilizing a devised ensemble process in which visual design elements drive the dramaturgy of the piece, Jeff Becker's sculptural innovation, Courtney Egan's magical video projections, Jeffrey Gunshol's liquid choreography and ArtSpot's physical performance-making style and original music create a dream-world imagining of a community inundated by a flood of change and upheaval.

Sea of Common Catastrophe was conceived, directed and designed by Jeff Becker, was created and performed by Jeffrey Gunshol, Kathy Randels, Lisa Shattuck and Mahalia Abéo Tibbs, and features a special appearance by Adella Gautier.  With video design by Courtney Egan, lighting design by Evan Spigelman, music and sound by Sean LaRocca, and costume design by Laura Sirkin-Brown.  2017 performances were technical directed by Jo Nazro and stage managed by Becka McLaughlin.