We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915 by Jackie Sibblies Drury (review)

Just Theater’s production of We Are Proud to Present . . . took place in a small theatre that appeared to be in-between legitimate productions. A table and chairs were pushed to one side to create space, and the corners of the room were littered with the detritus of past shows. A timeline was tacked to one wall; nearby, a file box and laptop indicated ongoing research. Audience members sat on either side of the stage, facing one another.

Nervous though excited, “Black Woman” (Kehinde Koyejo) greeted us with a welcoming smile and explanation of what was about to take place. To provide the proper context to the events that would be dramatized, she explained, the evening’s Presentation would be preceded by an Overview, which itself would be preceded by a Lecture. The ensemble (referred to in the script as “Actors 1–5”) watched anxiously to gauge audience response. Facts about Namibia (its location, terrain, national languages) were imparted, followed by an informative chronology that was both playful and sobering: for example, the Germans are enamored of the Herero; the Germans tire of the Herero; the Germans slaughter thousands of Herero. The lights shifted and we were back in the midst of the workshop process, where Black Woman, who is “kind of” the artistic director according to playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury, posited that perhaps the chronology was sufficient to inform an audience about the genocide. Really, she suggested, what more would anyone need to know about these horrifying events?

If the play were indeed just about the Herero genocide the Overview might be adequate. But while the ensemble endeavors to use performance to understand the tragic events in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Sudwestafrika, the play in which their struggles are recorded explores twenty-first-century conceptions of racial identity in the United States. Drury’s script is more than a historical drama; it is about the process of making historical drama: why we make it and how we make it, in light of who we are and perhaps who we would like to be.

The Actors have been working with a collection of letters by German soldiers stationed in Sudwestafrika. As workshops progress it becomes clear that

David Moore (Black Man), Lucas Hatton (White Man), Rotimi Agbabiaka (Another Black Man), Patrick Kelly Jones (Another White Man), and Megan Trout (Sarah) in We Are Proud to Present a Presentation about the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, from the German Sudwestafrika, between the Years 1884–1915. (Photo: Cheshire Isaacs.)

the letters are inadequate to represent the Herero experience (or, for that matter, the German experience). Attempts to “find it in improv” prove equally problematic: cast members repeatedly challenge one another’s knowledge of various racial, ethnic, and cultural identities and argue about who can play whom (33). As the ensemble grapples with multiple ethical and methodological pitfalls, Drury lovingly skewers the artistic process: “I don’t know what my active verb is,” someone wails in a moment of despair (46). The Actors are self-centered, but they are also optimistic, determined, and equipped with an abiding faith in the creative process.

Kehinde Koyejo (Black Woman) in We Are Proud to Present a Presentation about the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, from the German Sudwestafrika, between the Years 1884–1915. (Photo: Cheshire Isaacs.)

As tensions between the German soldiers and the Herero farmers mount, stage directions indicate that the Actors slowly adopt southern accents, and the play seems to move from Namibia to the US South. The choice implies that the ensemble taps into...