Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: The founding of America comes packaged in a white, male-dominated history full of pioneering figures like Davy Crockett and Buffalo Bill Cody. In reality, however, this country’s past is far more complex and diverse, as shown in Flyin’ West, a 1994 play written by African-American author and playwright Pearl Cleage, about African-American women settlers in an all-Black town.
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I’ve been hearing a lot about this production since I’ve been spending a lot of time at Pitt and know so many individuals there. I love seeing this kind of work produced and their production value is quite high. I am interested in going to see this work, even more so now that I’ve read more of the description on it. I also worked with the director at summer stock and would be surprised if it wasn’t some very high caliber work she produced. One of the coolest things from a technical perspective I’ve learned about the production is how they ended up doing the dirt onstage. They ended up ordering ground cork of varying sizes to try and make the effect they wanted. They then took this cork and mixed some paint in with it to control the color and I saw some of it and it looked really great, I was impressed and will be sure to remember that approach if (or really more like when) I need to put dirt onstage.
This story is surprising and fascinating, and I’m so glad that it’s being told through theatre. It’s just one example of the many ways in which theatre tells unexpected but important stories, both imaginary and historical. I think that theatre is a wonderful vessel for this story because it provides relatable, tangible characters to relate to, a physical experience and interaction with a piece of what could feel like distant history, and the ability to transport the audience to a different time and place-- if all goals of the production go according to plan. Of course, considering that this is a relatively unknown piece that has not been widely done, there should not be an expectation that this specific production is without room for improvement or future iterations. I hope that rather than shying away from such content and plays, we flock to their potential for education and inspiration.
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