Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: For many of the 10 brief plays in the ninth Theatre Festival in Black & White, you can't tell whether the playwright is white or black. All we know is that there are five of each, that plays by white authors have black directors and vice versa, and that actors are whatever ethnicity the playwright or director determined.
2 comments:
I find this article to be extremely interesting. I think that presenting plays without having the audience aware of whether the writer is White or Black is very thought-provoking. I would love to see what audiences reactions were when they found out which playwrights were of either race and I would love to ask them if it changed their opinions of the pieces at all. I actually found this happening with me when I saw the series of New Works this season. I went into the shows not knowing who the writers were or what color their skin was. It didn't even phase me to think about it. Thinking back now, however, I wonder if anything would have changed about the shows if I had known who the writers were. I doubt it, but it certainly is interesting to think about!
I'm curious about what the concept is behind this idea. Were they trying to make a point that color doesn't matter, or that it does? Was it an experiment on the audience's perception, or a political statement? Or was it just a reminder that we're not past all of these issues that we pretend to be? Or did someone just really want to use the term "Theatre in Black and White" literally?
I understand why the author of this article ignored color in his reviews, but I would like more background on this festival itself, the motivation behind it, and whether anything was ever explained to the audience to that effect.
Post a Comment