'Accommodation,' Lake Gibson teacher's play about a classroom conflict, is running in LA

Paul Catala
·5 min read
From left, actors Sufe Bradshaw, Laura Niemi and Sandy Bainum perform in "Accommodation," a play by Lake Gibson theater teacher Greg Burdick that is running at Los Angeles' Odyssey Theatre until July 9.
From left, actors Sufe Bradshaw, Laura Niemi and Sandy Bainum perform in "Accommodation," a play by Lake Gibson theater teacher Greg Burdick that is running at Los Angeles' Odyssey Theatre until July 9.

LAKELAND – As a public-school teacher for the past 30 years, Greg Burdick should have a pretty good idea about the current state of public education and the inner workings of classrooms and administrative offices.

Burdick's observations and personal experiences as the theater arts instructor at Lake Gibson High School, combined with his teaching background, resulted in his second full-length play, “Accommodation.”

And for the second time in four years, one of Burdick’s plays had its premiere across the country. “Accommodation” premiered June 15 in the Odyssey Theatre in West Los Angeles. His play “Monessen Falls” premiered in Reno, Nevada, in August 2019.

“Accommodation” is a 90-minute, five-character play centering on a concerned parent whose son is in danger of failing one of his classes. She schedules a conference with Celeste Dawkins, her son's high school science teacher. When the mother accuses the school of not honoring the state and federal-mandated modifications required for her son's learning style, Dawkins becomes enraged, provoking a lawsuit against the school district. With her job on the line, the teacher addresses the risks of making special considerations for students claiming to have unique needs in the classroom as society outside is indifferent to such accommodations.

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'I was processing a lot of the frustrations'

“Accommodation” officially opened in Los Angeles June 18 in the 99-seat Odyssey Theatre, where it will run until July 9. Burdick was in the city for two weeks to go through the technical aspects of his play as well as work with the production team and actors during four preview shows prior to the official opening.

From Los Angeles, where he stayed through June 19, Burdick said it was his experiences with students, teachers and parents that greatly influenced his writing. He said he began writing “Accommodation” in 2017 during what he said was a “particularly challenging school year” and said writing it was a “pressure-valve exercise” for him.

Greg Burdick, theater arts teacher at Lake Gibson High School, said he began writing “Accommodation” in 2017 during what he said was a “particularly challenging school year.”
Greg Burdick, theater arts teacher at Lake Gibson High School, said he began writing “Accommodation” in 2017 during what he said was a “particularly challenging school year.”

Burdick — who lives with his wife, Toi, and has a daughter, Miranda, 24 — has worked at Lake Gibson for 20 years after working at Zephyrhills High School in Pasco County for 10.

“I was processing a lot of the frustrations I was having that particular year,” said Burdick, 52, a native of Pittsburgh who moved to Lakeland 30 years ago from Pennsylvania. “I wrote a lot of it based on my own and my colleagues’ observations, which I inflated for dramatic purposes.”

The dramatic play initially got six developmental readings across the United States after it was posted to the creative-sharing website, New Play Exchange, and rapidly gained a positive digital footprint. Brian Polak, a podcaster sponsored by American Theatre, posted a list of recommended but not produced plays in a database. “Accommodation” was one of them.

“I think that kind of boosted the signal and made it a little bit more on people’s radar,” Burdick said.

'It has great rhythm; he writes with amazing pace'

That’s how Christopher Sepulveda, a renowned Los Angeles-based producer, found the play. Burdick said he was searching on behalf of Sandy Bainum, producer with 3Gems Productions in Los Angeles, looking for works with strong female characters and “issue driven stories.” The play is being produced by Sepulveda and 3Gems Productions.

“They found the play, fell in love with it, and they reached out to me just literally days after the shutdown for COVID in 2020,” he said.

Once “Accommodation” was slated for production, brothers Brandon and Garrett Baer, L.A.-based directors for about 30 years, were hired.

From Los Angeles, the brothers said “Accommodation” was originally presented to them by Sepulveda, who has collaborated with them in the past. They said he was looking for new material and came across the play and sent it to the Baer brothers.

“We immediately responded to it. It has great rhythm; he writes with amazing pace. Even in a scene that is as static as people just sitting in a room together, the pace and the dialogue really jumped out,” Brandon Baer said. “The first thing we notice is the rhythm Greg writes with.”

The Baers said “Accommodation” is thought-provoking as well as entertaining.

“We hope people leave with the impression that we, being educators and we, being parents, are working to acknowledge the issues that demand action, investigating causes, investigating culpability,” Garrett Baer said.

The billing for a play by Greg Burdick, a theater teacher a Lake Gibson High School, called "Accommodation," about a conflict between a teacher and parent about special accommodations for a child. The play is showing in Los Angeles through July 9.
The billing for a play by Greg Burdick, a theater teacher a Lake Gibson High School, called "Accommodation," about a conflict between a teacher and parent about special accommodations for a child. The play is showing in Los Angeles through July 9.

'An incendiary mix of characters and issues'

As for the response from “Accommodation,” Burdick said not just those in education, parents, teachers or administrators could glean messages in the play; anyone who’s concerned about the state of education in America would appreciate its content.

“I think anyone who has a vested interest in public education would enjoy it. Education has been kind of in the crosshairs for a lot of different reasons recently. I’m hoping this play will get people thinking about the direction with teachers, students and education overall that we want to go in,” he said.

Following the opening of “Accommodation,” StageSceneLA, an online website focused on southern California theatre, said the play was “an incendiary mix of characters and issues.”

“Like TV’s Abbott Elementary, Greg Burdick’s ‘Accommodation’ shines a much-needed spotlight on a public school system in crisis. It is this summer’s first absolute must-see,” it reported.

Unfortunately, for now the only way to see "Accommodation" is to buy a ticket in L.A. Burdick said the show is exclusively in Los Angeles, and if it does expand, it will go to New York next. He said there's no way to currently see it online, either, but he hopes to get it shown nationally within a year and eventually on an online platform.

Burdick is a member of the National New Play Network’s New Play Exchange and the Dramatists Guild of America.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Tale of classroom conflict, written by a Polk teacher, hits the stage