I saw a play and it blew my mind.

So the funny thing is that originally this post was going to be about race in theatre. But writing by myself about race felt disingenuous, so I stopped.

And then tonight I saw NEIGHBORS at The Public. Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, a member of the 2009-2010 Emerging Writers Group (and Princeton '06 grad... woah). The play was presented in the Shiva (The Public's black box space) as part of Public Lab, and is currently in its one week extension which ends Sunday.

I have never been so moved by a piece of theatre. Not because of its subject matter or its sensationalism (one of the two families is dressed in minstrel costumes with blackface for the entire production) but rather because of the perfection to which Mr. Jacobs-Jenkins captures tragedy. The middle-aged adjunct professor and father gives the audience (his Greek Theatre class) a vibrant lecture on tragedy near the beginning of the play. Whatever we think we understand about tragedy in the moment cannot compare to watching his world fall apart around him, alongside laughter and love shared between the other characters. THEN I understood tragedy.

I cannot even begin to understand how Charles Isherwood could have written the things he did in his review. It is the review written by someone who hated the premise of the play and within the first five minutes decided he hated it. Someone who really doesn't understand and doesn't want to participate in the world of the play. I think he found the professor to be the only character he could potentially identify with (it's a bit of a stretch, but still) and had to watch the man be ruined. I bet he hated "Bamboozled", too.

The play was three hours and I would not have lost a second of it. It is so rare to see a successful three hour play of any kind, but I was transfixed from start to finish. My friend and I walked out in a daze, exchanging a couple of words for every minute of contemplation that passed between us as we made our way onto the subway until I departed her company.

And it wasn't "about race". It was, but it wasn't. It was about the role race plays in our lives, and particularly in the identity of one man who loses his race along with the rest of his life. I believe this text should be taught in every playwrights of color and performing race class, and plan on e-mailing my professors of those classes and telling them so.

If you actually want to read about race in theatre, check out the Soho rep conversation on colorblind casting: http://www.sohorep.org/feed/2010/01/what-is-color-blind-casting-discussion-now-available-on-line/

And this blog that was published in between me writing the original ideas for this post and today. http://rantsravesandrethoughts.blogspot.com/2010/03/race-in-theatre.html

Next on my to see list: Clybourne Park at Playwrights Horizons and Race on Broadway. And my roommate just texted me to ask if I want to see the former on Wednesday. Sweet.

And with that, I’m out.

P.S. The article which prompted my original post: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/magazine/28Alabama-t.html
It’s really long, but if you have the time and interest, it’s a fascinating article.