Displaying items by tag: Congo Square Theatre Company

Described as a play-pageant-ritual-celebration, WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN is both scripted and improvised, participatory and performed – for the purpose of empowering Black People’s response to WHAT GOES DOWN: past, present, and future violence against Black People.

“IT? You know what IT is. IT is that terrible thing that happened, and that is going to keep happening.  IT always happened just yesterday and IT just keeps happening again tomorrow”

This review is really hard to write, mainly because I don’t feel qualified to judge the work. WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN is a participatory event, its purpose to generate a place for catharsis, cleansing, and healing … for Black People. The audience is informed, gently but unapologetically, that WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN is by Black People, about Black People, and for Black People – although all who approach with respect are welcome.

And amazingly that’s absolutely true!  There were lines / jokes / vignettes that I couldn’t appreciate, that I simply didn’t get, but at no point did I feel excluded. The moments of disconnection were my problem:  I, as a white person, couldn’t understand the significance of those lines / jokes / vignettes. The moments of exclusion were deficits in my comprehension; they were in no way generated by the Black People.

BTW, I capitalize Black People because those two words are spoken – shouted, proclaimed, cried, announced, groaned, exclaimed – frequently throughout, and the spoken words are always unmistakably capitalized.

WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN is written by Aleshea Harris, produced by Congo Square Theatre in partnership with LookingGlass Theatre, and directed by Daniel Bryant (Congo Square) and Erika Ratcliff (LookingGlass).

The ensemble includes Jos N. Banks, Chanell Bell, McKenzie Chinn, Alexandria Moorman, Willie “Prince Roc” Round, Joey Stone, and Penelope Walker. Each and every one of this cast are extraordinarily talented at acting, singing, and dancing. Though many of the vignettes are scripted, every word is unmistakably authentic. I can’t begin to imagine how emotionally exhausting each performance must be. I feel honored by their willingness to share it with us.

On the Creative Team are Sarah Grace Goldman (Dramaturg), Sydney Lynne Thomas (Set & Props Designer), Alexis Chaney (Costume/Wig/Makeup Designer), Levi Wilkins (Lighting Designer), and Charlique C. Rolle (Movement Coordinator). Victor Hugo Jaimes is Stage Manager, Estrellita Beatriz Production Manager, and Alexis Carrie designed the costumes. 

Together, this team – production and cast – create an awesome and enduring experience.  Six days later, I’m still having regular moments of recollection and new insight; I predict these perceptions and inspirations will continue for some time.

WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN is Highly Recommended for all audiences; for people who identify as BIPOC, it’s downright ESSENTIAL.

America was a different place in 1965. Jim Crow was alive and well in southern cities, American schools were still on the way to being integrated, African-Americans were getting their heads busted in trying to cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Alabama, there were race riots in major northern cities, the Andy Griffith Show and The Beverly Hillbillies were the top shows on television and in New York City Day of Absence was being staged by the newly formed Negro Ensemble Company.

Day of Absence, written by Douglas Turner Ward in 1965, is a reverse minstrel where the white residents of a Southern town wake to find all the black people gone. All the roles are played by Black people in white face. The caricatures are broad and cartoonish. It was written to make white audiences squirm while laughing. The script won the Vernon Rice and Obie Awards.

Fifty-five years later, America has changed. And Congo Square Theatre Company has upped the ante. Instead of Black people disappearing, all people of color (known as “Pox” in this iteration) disappear. The script has been updated to include racial slurs and stereotypes of Hispanics, Asians, East Indians, and everyone not white, with uproarious results.

Anthony L. Irons, a master physical comic himself, has directed this multiracial cast with energy and an eye towards razor sharp comic timing. The cast is phenomenal. Jordan Arredondo, Ronald L. Conner, Meagan Dilworth, Ann Douglas, Bryant Hayes, Sonya Madrigal, and Kelvin Roston, Jr. all play multiple parts, easily shifting from one character to another. The bare bones modular set by Sydney Lynne Thomas was the perfect background for the makeup, costumes and wigs by the talented Rueben D. Echoles.

Of note is Douglas’s Mayor Lee, a cross between Boss Hogg of “Dukes of Hazzard” and Marge Schott (the Owner and CEO of the Cincinnati Reds who infamously called her players "million-dollar n*ggers.”) As the events in the play become dire, she makes a television appeal that will have you crying with laughter. Along with her assistant Jackson (Conner), they steal the scenes they are in with a physicality that is unmatched.

When Douglas Turner Ward wrote Day of Absence his intention was to put a mirror to white people and make them feel uncomfortable. Congo Square’s production doesn’t so much indict white people, but makes fun of ignorant stereotypes, and we all hold ignorant stereotypes, whether we’d like to believe it or not. This is America 2020.

Special Note: It was great to see Derrick Sanders back at the helm of Congo Square Theatre Company. His artistic vision is unparalleled.
Day of Absence by Congo Square Theatre continues through March 22 at the Richard Christiansen Theater at Victory Gardens, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. Tickets are $35 ($25 for seniors and students) for performances Friday-Sunday.