Eminent Domain: After the Pipeline
Event Summary and Video
The Rural Reconciliation Project teamed with the Center for Great Plains Studies and Angels Theatre Company for an in-person discussion on March 11, 2025, inspired by the upcoming premiere of the new play, Eminent Domain. Please enjoy this event video — including both panel discussion and short readings from the new play — reflecting on the past, present, and future of rural places and place attachments. Further details about the play and the event follow.
About the Play, “Eminent Domain”:
When Nebraska rancher Rob McLeod is confronted with a threat underneath his land, his entire family is drawn into a struggle to preserve their relationships, their sense of community, and their heritage. “Eminent Domain” digs into this critical question: how can a Heartland way of life survive without its next generation? An award-winning play, written by Nebraska playwright Laura Leininger-Campbell, “Eminent Domain” digs beneath the day-to-day struggles facing our family farms.
About the Panel:
Playwright Laura Leininger-Campbell, Angels Theatre Company Director Timothy Scholl, and UNL Law Professors (and RRP Co-Creators!) Jessica Shoemaker and Anthony Schutz join for a conversation about family farms, corporate interests, and land use.
Angels Theatre Company is a professional theatre company located in Lincoln, Nebraska, with a mission to create and produce new plays. “This is a tremendously local and personal story,” Scholl said. “The themes are immediately relevant, and this is a conversation that we need to engage in our community. The legacy of our family farms is critical to our future.”
The Center for Great Plains Studies, with its Great Plains Art Museum, is an interdisciplinary educational and cultural hub that cultivates awareness of and engagement with the diverse people, cultures, and natural environments of the Great Plains.
Thanks to the Paul A. Olson lecture series for making this event free and open to the public.
See the play: March 20-22, 27-29, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. and March 23 and 30, 2025 at 2 p.m. in the Johnny Carson Theatre at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
