A New Play Brings the Deepwater Horizon Disaster to the Stage "Spill," a new play based on interviews with dozens of people affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil rig explosion in 2010, will have its premiere production this spring in the state that was at the center of the environmental disaster. The drama, which features some 30 real-life characters speaking in the verbatim style of the documentary-like "Laramie Project" plays, will run March 12 through 30, at the Swine Palace theater on the Louisiana State University campus in Baton Rouge, the theater and the play's creators announced on Sunday. "Spill" was written by Leigh Fondakowski, who was the head writer of "The Laramie Project," which explored the beating death of Matthew Shepard. The production will also feature an art installation of portraits of those interviewed, created by Reeva Wortel. In a telephone interview, Ms. Fondakowski said that the play grew out of a class she taught at Wesleyan University about the interviewing and writing techniques behind "The Laramie Project," which was created by Moises Kaufman and Tectonic Theater Project. Tectonic is not involved with "Spill." She and the Wesleyan students traveled to the gulf region and interviewed residents about the oil spill, and she continued to return with Ms. Wortel, ultimately compiling 200 hours of interviews. The characters include President Obama (based on his public comments), parish officials, fishermen and cleanup workers. The 110-minute play unfolds during the days leading up to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, with the first act ending "in disaster-movie fashion with guys going through the trauma, and the second act looking at the aftermath of the spill," Ms. Fondakowski said. The human story on the ground in Louisiana was much more profound than what I saw on TV. The play is being presented by Swine Palace and the Study Group, a company that finances theater productions based on real events.