My World is My Stage

At Mixed Blood we presented Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ play Neighbors. Freedom Radio producer Ralph Crowder attended a performance and was intrigued by the play and what it was trying to do and how it attempted to tell the story. He decided to film a documentary, of sorts, detailing the production and probing how the Black middle class is developed in America. Check out a quick clip. Hope you enjoy it.

I might be hella late on this as I’m sure it has made its rounds in the artistic community of bloggers I belong to here on Tumblr but I couldn’t not post it. Shoutout to whomever hipped me to this (I think it was my boo Enchanta [ Dreamhard, don’t throw shade!]).

Like anything, this video and the commentary surrounding it, highlight a larger issue: lack of creativity. Now, more than ever, I am in the “season planning” process at a theater. I am culling through scripts, trying to find ones that match the mission of the theater (a mission I’m VERY PROUD of!). As I read plays, see other productions, go to readings, etc, I’m always amazed at how bland the art we make really is. We suffer from an extreme lack of creativity right now!

Casting outside of the norm opens your art to new modes of interpretation and delivery. What is there to fear about that? Just imagine how different Juno is if one of those characters are of a different race. Not even race. What about ability level (one of the highlights of my career, so far, is doing Rajiv Joseph’s Gruesome Playground Injuries entirely in ASL)?

You don’t realize the immeasurable possibilities lie within the written word until it is brought to life by an artist. We, art makers, should create platforms that allow for all artists. Understandably, more thought goes into making these types of stories possible but, take it from me, it is well worth it. 

Art is about taking chances, showing humanity to humans, and enjoying the vulnerability imbedded in it all. I look forward to seeing more of that kind of art in the future.