by Chad Henderson
Artistic Director, Trustus Theatre
AN OPENING: Many have asked me personally about Trustus’ decision to produce Coker College’s revival of “WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT A PRESENTATION ABOUT THE HERO OF NAMIBIA, FORMERLY KNOWN AS SOUTH WEST AFRICA, FROM THE GERMAN SÜDWESTAFRIKA, BETWEEN THE YEARS 1884–1915” by Jackie Sibblies Drury. Considering that Trustus boasts a resident company of theatre artists, what’s the motivation behind producing another group’s work?
On April 24, 2020, Trustus Theatre will open Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Pulitzer Prize Winning play “Fairview” for a three-week run under the direction of Terrance Henderson, winner of the 2016 Stephen G. Morrison Visionary Award given by The City of Columbia. This play has the potential to make a life-changing impact on our audiences, it has the potential to confront patrons with their own perceptions and unvoiced prejudices, and it has the potential to strengthen our community by challenging our views of race in contemporary society.
So, when Andrew Schwartz (Coker College’s Assistant Professor of Theatre and friend) contacted me about the possibility of programming the college’s production in the Side Door Theatre during our 35th Season, I asked to read the script. After my first read of Drury’s play from 2012, I was instantly interested in this project.
I knew that Trustus would be experiencing considerable transition in January 2020 to prepare for the theatre’s ambitious “Trustus in the Round Series,” but I also felt it was the perfect opportunity to introduce Columbia to the voice of this prolific playwright and to start an important conversation about race with our patrons. I can’t remember the last time, if ever, that the theatre produced two works by the same playwright in one season – but considering Drury is a major voice in the American theatre, I thought there could be nothing but good that would come from bringing her voice, her call to action, and her unconventional approach to storytelling to our stage twice this year.
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SOME THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN ON MY MIND: Two things have been on my mind as we’ve approached the New Year at Trustus, and our upcoming production of Coker College’s “We Are Proud to Present […].”
One item was a thesis that David Grant proposes in his book: The Social Profit Handbook. I got to meet Mr. Grant, and learn about his work at a Fall Forum in NYC, hosted by Theatre Communications Group (TCG). Grant’s big idea is that the term “Non-profit” is limiting, and that it doesn’t truly explain what many of these sorts of organizations do. He offers instead that Non-profit organizations are, in actuality, groups that offer “Social Profit.” As an organization that’s dedicated to providing a sounding board for our community’s issues or cultural advancement, “Social Profit” seems to be a fitting description for the work we do at Trustus. I would say that being a “Social Profit” is our responsibility as a theatre.
The second remembrance that kept repeating in my thoughts was a talk-back given by NY Times theatre critic Wesley Morris at the TCG National Conference in Miami last summer. In assessing the contemporary theatre he’d been reviewing for the past couple of seasons he said something to the effect of: “Black playwrights, they don’t give a f**k right now.” In context, he was stating that Black playwrights were defying the conventions of traditional storytelling, they were presenting complex and confrontational work, and they were leaving audiences silenced by the end – unable to give the obligatory applause or ovations because, simply put, they were stopping theatre-goers in their tracks due to their delivery of truth.
[Maybe you’d like to check out Morris’ story “A Radical Moment in American Theater and Beyond” here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/theater/african-american-playwrights.html]
Ultimately, “We Are Proud to Present […]” and “Fairview” are two plays that provide Social Profit to our community because of the dialogues they invite, and they have the potential to provide a bold diversion from traditional storytelling convention with the added benefit of being truthful, revealing, and radical in their approach.
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A NECESSARY SIDE BAR: This is an important side bar, and then I’ll re-route to my conclusion...
While Trustus is often perceived as deeply inclusive and diverse, in recent years our organization has struggled with honest conversation about race within our very own walls. At times, we’ve even produced work that seemed radical on the surface, but didn’t do the work necessary to create ambassadors for Equity and Inclusion or to educate our audiences on the viewpoints provided by our work.
We’re very fortunate that many of our Artists of Color have been honest enough to diagnose the issue, and work with us on it. While we’re far from calling ourselves a major success story, through the conversations posited by producing Drury’s work and our work with Race to The Table SC in the coming months – we are investing in taking actionable steps in a healthier direction.
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A CONCLUSION, FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: I have yet to say much about what “We Are Proud to Present […]” and “Fairview” are about, beyond their addressing race. I can tell you that they both examine white gaze and privilege, but their power lies in the fact that both plays cleverly dissect the power of perception, the genealogy of oppression, and how we inhabit spaces (or refuse invitations for others to inhabit them).
You might also be shocked to learn that while there are weighty ideas that can be gleaned from these productions, the playwright also allows us a chance to laugh at ourselves as we peel back the onion of our collective experiences.
If you want more info on plot and that sort of thing, Google can give you whatever you need. Might even have some spoilers in there.
At this moment, I just want to ask that you believe in the theatre’s name: “Trust Us.” These plays are worth the investment, they’re worth your possible discomfort, and they’re worth going into blindly. Not to mention, you’ll be seeing important work by one of America’s most thrilling playwrights.
