2008 Woodie Awards
Resist Resistance
Cold theatre, cold actors, cold review
Kris Stone
Issue date: 2/21/07 Section: Opinion
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Black History Month is a time to celebrate African American history by glancing at the past, taking a look at where we are now and thinking about where we can go in the future.
Mira Theatre presented what they thought would be an ideal play to celebrate black history. The play they chose was
"Resistance."
"Resistance" is a play about William Parker, a man who escaped slavery and organized a group of blacks whose mission was to keep blacks from being returned to a life of slavery.
"Resistance" is probably the worst play that I've ever seen. As if it wasn't bad enough that I was sitting in a theatre with no heat, the actors were horrible. In 1850, black women did not speak better than whites due to their lack of education. Characters stuttered through their lines throughout the entire play.I thought the best character was a woman who played a Quaker lady until I interviewed her and saw that she shakes in real life. The play didn't feel like a celebration of black history.
Why must we continue to go back to slavery? African Americans have accomplished so much over the years, yet we can't seem to get past that one period in time.
After the play, I interviewed members of the audience to get their take on the play and to find out how they felt about this particular play being chosen to represent black history month.
Reporter Toni Dickinson asked, "What impressed you most about it?" in which a lady responded, "I don't know, I don't know." Perhaps she doesn't know because the play didn't make that big of an impact.
I went on to interview another member of the audience asking, "So what did you think about the overall performance of the play?" The woman then replied, "Oh I give it an A, just a triumph each of the characters were completely believable, dialogue carried the show, just lots of fun."
Curious to know how she felt about this play being chosen to celebrate black history month, I questioned her again to which she responded, "Isn't it about time to hear something nice out of people's mouths I'm sick of you know war and George Bush and all those people all that nasty stuff so it was really great to hear a positive message."
Mira Theatre presented what they thought would be an ideal play to celebrate black history. The play they chose was
"Resistance."
"Resistance" is a play about William Parker, a man who escaped slavery and organized a group of blacks whose mission was to keep blacks from being returned to a life of slavery.
"Resistance" is probably the worst play that I've ever seen. As if it wasn't bad enough that I was sitting in a theatre with no heat, the actors were horrible. In 1850, black women did not speak better than whites due to their lack of education. Characters stuttered through their lines throughout the entire play.I thought the best character was a woman who played a Quaker lady until I interviewed her and saw that she shakes in real life. The play didn't feel like a celebration of black history.
Why must we continue to go back to slavery? African Americans have accomplished so much over the years, yet we can't seem to get past that one period in time.
After the play, I interviewed members of the audience to get their take on the play and to find out how they felt about this particular play being chosen to represent black history month.
Reporter Toni Dickinson asked, "What impressed you most about it?" in which a lady responded, "I don't know, I don't know." Perhaps she doesn't know because the play didn't make that big of an impact.
I went on to interview another member of the audience asking, "So what did you think about the overall performance of the play?" The woman then replied, "Oh I give it an A, just a triumph each of the characters were completely believable, dialogue carried the show, just lots of fun."
Curious to know how she felt about this play being chosen to celebrate black history month, I questioned her again to which she responded, "Isn't it about time to hear something nice out of people's mouths I'm sick of you know war and George Bush and all those people all that nasty stuff so it was really great to hear a positive message."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
StaceyLoew
posted 3/09/07 @ 7:42 PM NA
Much of what writer Kris Stone had to say regarding the production of "Resistance" was true - the theatre was cold and the actors did stumble through their lines. (Continued…)
StaceyG.
posted 3/14/07 @ 5:49 AM NA
I feel that if you're going to make a comment about an article, it should be about the article. The comment made by Stacey Loew came across rather personal. (Continued…)
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