Experiences of Racism

At the core of virtually all the play’s elements – its characters, story, plot, dialogue, and elements of design (i.e., set, lights, and costumes) are considerations of black-white racism. For example, the identities and transformations of each of the play’s eight characters are all defined, to one degree or another, by experiences associated with blackness and/or whiteness, and the (often negative) interactions between the two. Then: the story is built around the different ways those characters learn truths about the racism in their identities and behaviors, while the plot – that is, the various events that anchor the story – is defined by the moments at which the characters learn those truths. The play’s dialogue is, almost entirely, connected to different ways of expressing and/or experiencing racism and racist behavior. Finally, even the play’s set, lights, and costumes are all...