Tooth and Claw: Act II

In 1993, on the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, an American woman with a PhD in biology and a fierce determination to protect the environment found herself at war with the local fishermen. As director of the Charles Darwin Research Station, she used her influence to stop the fishermen from gathering pepinos, or sea cucumbers, which fetched a high price in Japan as a supposed enhancer of male potency. The situation erupted in violence, and the research station was barricaded. In trying to safeguard the fragile ecosystem of Galapagos, the scientist had put her own life and the lives of her employees in danger. This explosive incident became the basis for Michael Hollinger’s 2004 play Tooth and Claw.