Think about you’re a Black playwright tasked with utilizing simply ten minutes of working time to make sense of latest Black American humanity. In its seventeenth season, the Fireplace This Time Pageant invitations rising playwrights of African descent to just do that, make which means of the second in ten-minute increments. This 12 months, the competition begins a residency at The Apollo Levels on the Victoria (down the road from theApollo Theater). Directed by Ken-Matt Martin, this 12 months’s assortment options six vignettes delivered to life by an ensemble of 5 actors. It runs Jan. 23-31.
Kelley Girod, the Pageant’s founder and govt producer, instructed me that the thought of ten-minute performs was born out of a frustration “with main theaters that will hold one slot obtainable for a playwright of colour. … Doing ten-minute performs permits us to characteristic seven to eight model new playwright voices that the business hasn’t heard of but. You get to journey to so many alternative worlds over the course of 90 minutes.”
After I attended this previous Saturday, the frigid temperatures have been conspiring towards Girod’s forged and crew. The theater was chilly, the lighting board failed and started working simply in time for the beginning of the present, and one of many performs needed to restart after a backstage costume malfunction.
However the present went on, fairly efficiently I would add. Quite than dimming the keenness, the manufacturing glitches impressed the viewers and served as a reminder to have fun the resilience of Black artwork and theater within the midst of hostile situations and shortage.
The competition’s six performs leaned into this ethos with a energetic vary of genres and room tones. Two of the performs are comedies, but in addition ship essentially the most express political statements of the night. Utilizing flashes of absurdity, “Black to the Save the Day,” written by Preston Crowder, and “Goose,” by DeLane McDuffie, every query who’s down for the reason for Black liberation, who’s pretending, and who’s shucking and jiving. “Black to the Save the Day” is a raucous romp that employs broad satirization and superhero tropes to make daring swipes at gentrification, white supremacy, and the method of promoting out. Inventively costumed and energetically delivered, “Black to Save the Day” moved with the breathlessness of an unhinged “SNL” skit and the silliness of a Mad Journal characteristic.
Compared, “Goose” is extra refined and simple in its metaphorical language. Within the spirit of Spike Lee’s “Get on the Bus,” a bunch of Black activists commerce ideological arguments and philosophies on their approach to a protest motion. Nicely-paced and imaginatively written, “Goose” pokes enjoyable at Black social change narratives — which revolutionary highway are we on anyway? — whereas delivering a deliciously satisfying easter egg of an ending.
The remaining productions are extra sober and intimate. “Every thing However-,” written by Teniia Micazia Brown, and “Clumsy,” by Mo Holmes, discover one-on-one clashes between friends. “Every thing However-” is the extra intricate and emotionally formidable. Located within the waning moments of a younger couple’s argument, at situation is Ezra’s infidelity and Thea’s makes an attempt to make sense of his betrayal in actual time. The dialogue guides us by Ezra’s easily delivered, however profoundly flawed makes an attempt to rationalize his dishonest methods whereas showcasing the emotional abstractions that Thea makes use of to coolly deconstruct and dismantle them. At Saturday’s efficiency, the ladies within the viewers served as Thea’s amen nook.
Mo Holmes’ “Clumsy,” which tells the story of a girl who gives to cook dinner grits for a drunk driver who plows into her kitchen along with his automotive, by no means manages to efficiently rise above its random premise to supply a completely intelligible viewing expertise.
The remaining performs within the competition lineup are micro household dramas that place us at pivotal end-of-life junctures. “White Diamond,” written by Donathan Walters, finds a mom, Andrea, and her son, Hakeem, sifting by Andrea’s late mom’s belongings in preparation for her funeral. In search of the deceased’s brooch offers the chance for Hakeem to confront Andrea about accepting his boyfriend and to make a shocking revelation about her identification. In portraying Andrea, Nikiya Mathis provides maybe essentially the most absolutely lived-in efficiency of the night.
The emotional stakes in “DNR,” written by Naomi Lorrain and excerpted from a conventional-length play, are recognizable to anybody who has navigated the monetary and relational challenges of caretaking a terminally sick cherished one. In “DNR,” god-fearing, duck-hunting Solomon is conserving a vigil over his mom, who’s on life assist. His estranged cousin, Nikki, has returned to their hometown to share her emotions about her aunt’s situation and to make a heart-wrenching proposal to Solomon. The dialogue strikes successfully and captures the common intricacies of household politics.
The main focus of the Fireplace This Time Pageant is on the scripts and performances. To notice that the set design and props are minimal to non-existent could be to overlook the purpose. In the end, The Fireplace This Time Pageant is a showcase for Black voices and Black theater demanding to be heard. For more information, go to firethistimefestival.com.
