Tuesday, February 24, 2015
“For the Tree to Drop” at PICT Classic Theatre
The Pittsburgh Tatler: Henry (Justin Lonesome), a slave who has attempted to escape to freedom one too many times, is dead, hanged from a tree by Edgar (David Whalen), the plantation owner who claims him as his property. Henry’s sister, Estella (Siovhan Christensen), keeps vigil under that tree, doing what she can to provide his body dignity in death. Upon this Antigone-inspired premise, Lissa Brennan’s new play For the Tree to Drop builds an existentialist drama that explores the webs of power in which antebellum slaves (and their owners) were caught.
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When I say this I mean it in the least offensive way possible: plays based in the slave trade have gotten old. Don’t take this to mean that I think they can be amazing pieces of art that depict the lives of early African Americans in ways necessary to educating the young, but older generations have simply gotten over the guilt and sadness of happened all those years ago. It is a recognized dark time in our past, but some have come to the point of wondering, with the majority if not all the facts of the period discovered and discussed, why we’re still beating the dead horse. Again I’m not saying that the shows should be discontinued, simply looked at in a new light. The article is right, people know the themes ahead of time, of course the white slave owner is their father, and it was thing that happened then. The focus now needs to be on how can we push these themes in a manner with grab attention and keep it, not just inspire uncomfortable feelings of unnecessary guilt in the crowd.
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