7/27 Thoughts: why am I doing this play? plus structural ideas
Why am I doing this play?
I am trying to understand my place as a white man in this fucked up country with its fucked up race relations
I am trying to take responsibility for my place in this country. I am trying not to pretend that black people (or Indians or latinos or or or) don't exist, though it is so fucking easy in my white (almost-all-white) enclave, in my white (almost-all-white) college, in my white (not nearly all white) city. I opened my eyes today and looked around--after telling some white newcomers to Asheville how segregated it was--and of course saw black people everywhere.
I'm trying to open my eyes.
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OK, all that above is well and good and may help me to focus a bit, but not absolutely central to constructing this play.
Structure: Think of it in three layers:
1) the individual: I think it's safe to say that we all want to be seen for who we are; so--a person tries to make another person see them. Chaikin's question: what do you see when you look at me? A place to start, maybe. I can't take off my skin, it is me. I am strange to you; we're all strange to each other. What do I do about that if I want to be with you?
2) the social/historical/performative: How did we get to this place? Why and how did we make ourselves so white, in contrast (contrast!) to black and red? And how did we reinforce that identity(and express our fear of losing it)? By performing it! So: how did we perform our white identity and the problems that came along with it?
3) the intellectual/academic: where do I get the tools to take responsibility for this situation? One way is through interrogation, or academic discourse. Such as: white critical studies, the study of the construction of white identity.
Each of these layers can be represented visually:
1) moments between contemporary individuals (brief flashes? closing scene? opening scene?)
2) scenes from Oroonoko with interludes which include scenes from The Indian Emperour and Macbeth and scenes from a coffeehouse and Mrs. Behn reading from her novella; possibly orchestrated by a Theatre Manager
3) possibly spoken text (or projected?) from various sources commenting on white identity (???)
Why am I doing this play?
I am trying to understand my place as a white man in this fucked up country with its fucked up race relations
I am trying to take responsibility for my place in this country. I am trying not to pretend that black people (or Indians or latinos or or or) don't exist, though it is so fucking easy in my white (almost-all-white) enclave, in my white (almost-all-white) college, in my white (not nearly all white) city. I opened my eyes today and looked around--after telling some white newcomers to Asheville how segregated it was--and of course saw black people everywhere.
I'm trying to open my eyes.
--------------
OK, all that above is well and good and may help me to focus a bit, but not absolutely central to constructing this play.
Structure: Think of it in three layers:
1) the individual: I think it's safe to say that we all want to be seen for who we are; so--a person tries to make another person see them. Chaikin's question: what do you see when you look at me? A place to start, maybe. I can't take off my skin, it is me. I am strange to you; we're all strange to each other. What do I do about that if I want to be with you?
2) the social/historical/performative: How did we get to this place? Why and how did we make ourselves so white, in contrast (contrast!) to black and red? And how did we reinforce that identity(and express our fear of losing it)? By performing it! So: how did we perform our white identity and the problems that came along with it?
3) the intellectual/academic: where do I get the tools to take responsibility for this situation? One way is through interrogation, or academic discourse. Such as: white critical studies, the study of the construction of white identity.
Each of these layers can be represented visually:
1) moments between contemporary individuals (brief flashes? closing scene? opening scene?)
2) scenes from Oroonoko with interludes which include scenes from The Indian Emperour and Macbeth and scenes from a coffeehouse and Mrs. Behn reading from her novella; possibly orchestrated by a Theatre Manager
3) possibly spoken text (or projected?) from various sources commenting on white identity (???)
posted by Graham at 5:57 PM
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