"You can't imagine you know all the guilt I feel about the decisions I made, if I'd made others it might have saved lives, might of changed events ... if I'd only done this -- if I'd only known ... you know, pile on to that how poorly I loved the people in my life when they were alive, you know, and then to lose them just like that -- they're gone. We never believed Dad would go through with that you know and like looking back, that's pretty -- delusional. But, you just have to know the whole story -- you just have to know my father."
-from an interview with Stephan Jones, the son of Jim Jones

Ultimately, it took Fondakowski and her team nearly four years to develop the script -- a process that entailed conducting work-in-progress readings with actors in cities on both coasts, with highly vocal audiences that included survivors who are portrayed by actors on stage. The process of collecting new interview material, soliciting responses from audiences, and editing and adding to the script continued right up until the time that the play premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in April 2005.

Jim JonesJim Jones

Let All the Stories Be Told