Stage Directions (review)

While the idea of the play-within-a-play is not in itself a theatrical innovation, Penumbra Theatre Company's recent production of Stage Directions puts this long-favored dramaturgical form to excellent use. The major action of Stage Directions takes places over the span of one theatrical rehearsal and explores some of the cultural issues tied to theatrical representation and homophobia within the black community. The central conflict of the play focuses upon an on-stage kiss, which the character Rod, a straight actor, is uncomfortable in performing. Rod subsequently tries to avoid actually kissing another man by suggesting to the director (who is also straight) that a staged kiss would be more appropriate. When the character Gary, a gay actor and Rod's scene partner, passionately expresses the importance of having the audience see the two men kiss for real, high drama ensues. Chaos breaks out as characters forge shifting allegiances and unspoken prejudices and judgments rise to the surface. The strong acting performances of Jim Craven, a Penumbra Theatre Company veteran, and Harry Waters Jr., who originated the role of Belize in Tony Kushner's Angels in America, stand out respectively as the harried director and playwright trying to keep it together as their rehearsal process disintegrates around them. While watching this production, I was reminded that the staging of black and homosexual experiences, in all their depth

and complexity, are still revolutionary acts in the theatre and can provide counterpoints to the more superficial, stereotypical representations of both blackness and homosexuality that proliferate in the entertainment industry. Wilson makes his artistic aims clear when he has the character Gary explicitly state the need for more theatrical representations of African American homosexuality on stage by insisting on the kiss, and more comically by having Terry, the earnest playwright, take a jab at the musical The Full Monty, which he describes as "ten little white boys in their underpants," rightly claiming, "this isn't that."

What this production does do is lay bare the politics of African American self-representation and recognition in theatrical production in sophisticated, smart, and often hilariously funny ways. As such, the play proved an appropriate choice for Penumbra, a theatre company that has worked tirelessly for over twenty-eight years to present African American experiences with depth and complexity by, for, and near African Americans. Director Lou Bellamy fully utilizes the conventions of black theatre (such as permission for the audience to "talk back" during the performance). The fact that the theatre is located within the black community highlights the script's comedic moments and fosters dialogue on some of the play's more salient themes. Taking advantage of the intimate nature of the theatre space, Bellamy directed actors to use not only the stage, but the aisles and audience areas as well, to create a feeling of immersion and participation in the theatrical experience. This technique seemed particularly effective in a scene involving an outburst from the character Rod. In an earlier scene, Rod had denied his homophobia, going so far as took look up the definition in the dictionary in order to convince himself and others of his tolerance. When mocked for this action and pressured to look more closely at his behavior and attitude, Rod, feeling frustrated and persecuted, shouts epithets and storms offstage through the audience, eliciting audience commentary of the "Oh-no-he-didn't" variety. The intimacy of the theatre allowed the audience to reflect and comment upon the action of the play as it unfolded around them.

In addition to the...