Master Thespians

I made the trek up to Lakota East tonight and I thought I'd share a few quick thoughts on the play before retiring for the evening.

("...retiring for the evening..." Those darn British characters have got me talking like Sherlock Holmes.)

There was a good sized audience there, but not the swarming crowds I expected, given the media attention that's been focused on it. There were a few empty seats, but not too many. The auditorium is identical to Lakota West's, where I used to perform in band and jazz band concerts a lot. The pre-performance buzz was similar, but I think there were more people.

A Lakota East student I talked to said the crowd didn't seem much larger than the usual crowd he'd seen at similar events. He expected more people on Friday night. It definitely felt like only a handful of people in attendance had been attracted by the controversy rather than personal connections to the students. Most in the audience seemed to know each other.

The play was very well done. The students' hard work showed and it made for an entertaining and suspenseful evening. I haven't read any Agatha Christie since Jr. high school and I couldn't recall how the story ended, so I was genuinely surprised.

I was very impressed with the acting. I don't remember high school theater being quite as funny and professional as this play was.

The dialog got choppy at a few points, but that probably had more to do with the limited time they had to practice together than the skill of the actors. I remember what high school was like and I'm sure it was hard to fit such a demanding piece of artistry into their schedules.

Somehow they pulled it off. The students, their teachers, and their parents should be very proud. It would have been a shame if the play was canceled, as was previously planned.

I almost regret going into any observations of a more socially provocative nature, since I enjoyed the performance so much. I almost hate to bring it up, since I think most of the cast and crew would prefer to leave the controversy out of it. Almost.

But I have no intention of hiding from what the revised prologue of the play referred to as "the elephant in the living room." I'd read in statements Lakota gave the Enquirer that the program would include additions that were intended to "honor diversity."

So what did they do?

When I walked through the front door of the building there were 7-10 people handing something out to people as they entered the building.

I guess I looked puzzled. "Here, have a bookmark," one woman said to me with a little smile.

For some reason my more rebellious side slipped out. "Are they handing out books?" I asked with faux curiosity. "I could use more books."

She laughed off my hint of attitude. "Sorry. That would be great wouldn't it?"

Everybody else was going to be on their best behavior tonight.

I'll try to scan my bookmark and get it up on the blog so you can see it for yourself. They were basically a recognition of where the name "Lakota" came from. "To the 'Lakota' community, 'Lakota' means, friends/allies," it read. There were a couple of quotes from Lakotas named Black Elk and Sherry Hollingsworth aka Blue Bird Woman. Black Elk's read "The power of a thing or an act is in the understanding of its meaning." Hollingsworth's read "You have the name of the Lakota people, give it honor."

Apparently the Native American angle wasn't lost on everyone. It wouldn't be the first thing I've ever been wrong about.

I had mixed feelings. They acknowledged Native American contributions to the community, which was good. But there was absolutely no explanation of why it was necessary to do this at tonight's event and not at any other school event.

The additional prologue - the one a few of Michelle Malkin's readers hoped would get booed - seemed a little evasive. I assume it was written by a Lakota East student that emphatically wants nothing to do with racial politics. It made reference to "discussions" that took place before the play was put on and the "teachable moments" that emerged from the "discussions." No mention of what the "discussions" were about or even that the play had been canceled for a time. The girl delivering the short speech only conveyed her hope that we in the audience would continue the "discussions" after we left the performance, but would set them aside for now.

Some substantive historical context was provided in the program notes, which discussed Agatha Christie's popularity, the controversial titles and content of the book, and changes that have been made to the play. There were a few interesting lines about "eliminating offensive material in popular culture." A blog for another day.

During intermission they served cookies and soda. I got a few awkward glances. I started to relive that familiar Lakota feeling of being noticed as "that black guy" in the room. Did they think I was a spy or something? Or maybe just a student that didn't mingle very well?

Of course, I wasn't the only black person there. There were 4 or 5 others. One of them moved straight toward me as the audience enjoyed the refreshments. He was a tall, familiar looking man with a derby on his head. I knew him from somewhere but couldn't place him. We spoke very briefly before I headed for the restroom. Before I got there a middle aged man stopped me in mid stride.

"Who was that guy you were talking to just now? You know the tall one..." He started to point but stopped himself. "The uh... African American gentleman over there." I could tell he had a little anxiety about describing him as "African American." I felt like congratulating him.

"I'm not sure. He didn't mention his name." I said.

"He's a big guy down in Cincinnati," the stranger said. "I think he's a judge. I've heard him talk with Billy Cunningham a few times." That jogged my memory.

He was Attorney Leslie Isaiah Gaines. I talked to him a little more after I grabbed a cookie. I think he has kids that go to Lakota or something. He gave me a CD he'd recorded that featured a song called "God's Different Colored Wrapping Paper."

"We're all children of God, no matter what color we are" he told me and the white couple standing to my left. I told him I'd say hello to Kathy Y. Wilson for him. Very nice guy.

There was a Channel 12 van outside and I had a brief discussion with reporter Angela Ingram after the play was over. I don't feel right publishing much about what we talked about. I told her I was a journalism student, but it didn't occur to me then that I might want to discuss it later in the blog. I didn't make her aware that her comments might end up online somewhere - so they won't.

And about the play itself... While race didn't feature prominently in the main plot, colonialism in South Africa and "natives in the bush" are prominent parts of a few characters' backgrounds and are part of the general cultural context the cast inhabits. There were only a few racial comments in the script, but race wasn't as absent from the story performed as I'd been told.

Letters, emails and quotations in the Enquirer from students and parents insisted that race had "nothing" to do with the story. Their comments probably weren't intentionally deceptive, but they weren't wholly accurate either. I can see how a discussion of race would have been relevant because of the content of the play even if there were no arguments over the title.

There's another show tomorrow night. It will probably be even better than tonight's. I highly recommend it. Tickets are $10. You can go for the show and stay for the people watching.

~ Geoffrey Dobbins
Vice President, UCABJ
Lakota West Class of 2002