Race Dramaturgy

by Jahnesha Huertas

David Mamet’s plays Oleanna, Race, and Speed-The Plow have countless similarities. Not only does Mamet shine light on the dynamics of power, class, and authority between men and women, but the driving catalyst of his plot is almost always the sinister actions of a female. Whether this is the manifestations of sexist views on the behalf of the playwright is not completely apparent. Mamet shows women using their assets and positions in society to take advantage of male authorities.

In Oleanna, Carol, is a college student who can't handle the pressures of college and seeks out extra help from her professor. She makes it very clear that it is unfair that the authorities who hold the power to decide if she fails are human beings just like herself - they are people who aren't less lacking in their perfections, so why do they hold so much power over her and society? Susan in Race is also a young woman, an intern to be exact, and is surrounded by men in the workplace. She is the one with less professional experience, yet she ends up being the biggest threat to the case. Karen in Speed-The-Plow portrays herself as pure and naïve and is significantly younger than Gould, the film producer, who is obviously attracted to her. She wants a film idea to be produced and she knows that she can use her sexuality to get what she wants. She is very honest and upfront with Gould about his desires and romanticizes his need for love as virtuous. She makes him think that they both are searching for the same thing.

Mamet has a very specific formula. All of these plays have only one woman in them and he places the female in a male-dominated atmosphere. Mamet gives most of the social and professional power to the men in his pieces. By making Carol the student, Susan the eager intern and Karen the secretary, they seem the least threatening. His plays communicate that still in today’s world, men hold most of the power. Mamet puts his female characters at different social statuses than their male counterparts to mirror the dynamics of authority in the real world and their efforts on their inferior subjects. Also, Mamet makes age a prominent factor in all the characters of his plays - the women are all the youngest.

Race takes this a step further by making race a prominent issue in the plot. One of Susan’s mentors is also black like herself. By doing this, Mamet makes the statement that gender trumps race. Even though both characters are black, Susan’s position does not hinder her efforts to stand up for the alleged rape victim - another black woman. Both characters are more married to the bigger picture than their current situations. They are willing to risk everything to prove a point. Even though the alleged rapist never commits foul play against Susan personally, she still wants to make him an example.

Susan’s character challenges the definition of right and wrong. She has a very strong feeling that the alleged rapist is indeed guilty, however, she doesn’t act on her strong emotions until after her mentor asks her to play the victim in a reenactment of the encounter. Such an act would be her admitting that a white man was innocent of the rape of another black woman. Susan believes that since the alleged rapist confessed to the crime, thus proving that he was guilty, all of her foul play up until that point simply does not count. Susan is actually an aid in uncovering the truth. Her male colleagues are loyal to their client, but not necessarily loyal to the truth. As lawyers, they aren't interested in revealing the truth, they only want to protect their version of the truth.

The female characters in Race, Oleanna, and Speed-The-Plow are more loyal to the principles of their life situations than to the situations themselves. Susan, Karen and Carol are interested in making a statement about justice and truth in the society that we live in and Mamet uses them as a literary device to not only forward the plot, but as a symbol. Mamet shows that though men do not hold all of the power, woman are still highly underestimated. Mamet's female characters show that it doesn’t matter how mature and professional a male may be - a younger woman who appears defenseless can fool any man into doing what she wants.

Race

by Jahnesha Huertas

David Mamet’s (playwright and director) new play Race will definitely keep fans of his past work (such as Oleanna) pleased as he once again puts his signature spin on society’s opinions of power and status.

The play begins with Charles Strickland, a white man charged with the rape of a black girl, coming to the law firm of Jack Lawson and Henry Brown. Lawson and Brown are suspicious that there is more to the story than Strickland is telling. Susan, the office intern, strongly feels that the suspect is guilty from the beginning. The debate goes into whether the alleged victim was a true lover of Strictland or if the whole ordeal was racially motivated. Secrets from Strictland’s past sprout up from nowhere, and Susan does everything in her power to make sure that justice is served.

Race puts a strong focus on the different interpretations that the white and black community puts on race, what is viewed as politically incorrect, and if foul play against a guilty person is justified. The fast and intense dialogue of the play is a pleasure to watch, however, some of the conversations seem very choppy and abrupt, as if the actors are reciting their lines mechanically and don’t fully internalize what they are saying.

The entire play takes place in the law firm and the only indication that we have of the passage of time are some minor costume changes. The set is kept simple to allow for more of an emphasize on the plot. The whole cast does a very good job of telling the story, however, James Spader (playing lawyer Jack Lawson) was the most dynamic onstage and portrayed a lawyer very naturally and realistically (perhaps because he played a lawyer on the TV series Boston Legal). 

Mamet’s newest play Race made me think about a question that I never paid much attention to before: If you are guilty of sinister acts against a guilty person, does that somehow make you less guilty?

HOW TO SEE THE SHOW: $26.50 student rush • Barrymore Theatre, 243 W. 47th St.

Alvin Ailey Dramaturgy

by Jahnesha Huertas

The mission of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is to establish a cultural community that emphasizes the humanity and beauty of African American heritage and diverse cultures to unite people of all races, ages, and backgrounds. Founder Alvin Ailey began creating pieces that drew from his Texan background that emphasized the blues, gospels and spirituals. He called these inspirations ‘blood memories.” Throughout his lifetime, Ailey created 79 ballets and emphasized that the mission of his company was not only to showcase his original works, but to recreate works of the past that were important for modern audiences. In all, over 200 works by more than 70 choreographers have been performed by The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Finian's Rainbow Dramaturgy

By Jahnesha Huertas 

Finian’s Rainbow was originally produced in 1947. One part of the story is that a leprechaun turns a racist senator into a black person to understand the hurt he has caused. In the original production, the white actor playing the senator wore black-face to show his magical transformation from a white man to a black man. This caused bad press for the show because people thought it was encouraging racism. Not just audiences agreed, but the NAACP was also angered by what they perceived was a negative portrayal of blacks. In the current revival, two different actors have been cast to solve this problem - a white actor portrays the senator before his transformation and a black actor portrays him after the magical occurrence.

Oleanna

by Jahnesha Huertas

 
David Mamet’s audience-dividing Oleanna follows Carol (Julia Stiles), an academically struggling student, when she comes to her professor, John (Bill Pullman), in a desperate attempt to raise her grade. Carol doesn’t want to simply protect her GPA, but she wants to actually UNDERSTAND the material in order to understand life as a whole, John agrees to re-teach the entire semester to her during private one-one sessions, but,in the midst of doing so, he challenges all that Carol believes about life, authority and power. He refers to higher education as “prolonged hazing” and tells to Carol that all personal issues, financial struggles and sexual prejudices she has overcome to gain acceptance to the institution have been pointless.

John’s intentions are pure. He is working on receiving tenure at the institution and seems to see a bit of himself in Carol. Though they are of different ages, sexes and economic classes, they each have an idealistic sense of achievement they want to fulfill. John repeatedly has private sessions with Carol and says he wants to help her because he “likes” her. Carol then brings a suite against John for sexual harassment. She recalls everything that the audience has seen, but attaches malicious intentions to John’s words, causing the audience to rethink what actually happened.

The set realistically modeled a professor’s office. There were no set changes since the entire play took place in John’s office, but there were numerous costume changes that I found disturbing. To represent the passing of time, the stage would fade to black after and the window shades of the professor’s office would rise to show the campus outside (either sunny or winter-like to inform the audience of the season) and then close again. The actors would then return in different or altered clothing. Technically, this gave the actors time for a wardrobe change, but in terms of the flow of the story it depleted artistic continuity. For a moment, the audience was taken out of the realm of the plot, and the actors had to work even harder in the next scene to recapture the energy.

The true question of Oleanna is what is power and how does it fit into the idealistic standards we set for our lives? Carol didn’t lie in her accusations, she simply recounted what she felt had happened. Although she did report the truth, I feel she altered the facts to show her professor that, although he has the authority, she has the power. Words and actions are perceived differently and that difference in perception defines our interaction with humanity and what embodies our individual visions of what is “truth”.

HOW TO SEE THE SHOW: $25 Student Rush • Golden Theatre, 252 W. 45th Street www.oleannaonbroadway.com

Avenue Q

by Jahnesha Huertas

Sex. Love. Racism. A dwindling economy. Life after graduation, suddenly realizing that four years of college tuition has gotten you nowhere. These are just a few topics explored in the musical Avenue Q. Not exactly what first comes to mind in a play that features various muppet-like puppets and a Sesame Street-like set.

Princeton has just arrived to Avenue Q after graduating college, and while looking for an apartment and a job, he realizes that he also must find his purpose. He is determined not to just get by in life, but instead embark on something that he feels passionate about. He meets Kate Monster, who is on a mission to establish a school to build the self-esteem of monsters every where. They begin a whirl-wind romance jaded by a harlot of a blues singer and two “bad news bears”.

Meanwhile, the other residents of Avenue Q have their own problems to deal with. Christmas Eve and Brian prepare for marriage, Gary Coleman ponders his failure as a celebrity and what used to be of his fortune and Rod and Nicky (think Bert and Ernie) hit a snag in their friendship. I was expecting to see a plethora of puppets attached to strings controlled by puppeteers lurking unseen in the shadow, but to my surprise, the actors onstage acted as puppeteers. Some of them played more then one character when both puppets where onstage and their ability to change characters instantly really showcased their talent. For instance, Carey Anderson’s sweet Kate Monster was miles away from her portrayal of saucy singer Lucy the Slut. The actors dressed in dark colors to contrast with the brightness of the puppets and the set. This definitely made it easier to forget that the actors were there and put the focus on the puppets. The multiracial cast was refreshing to see as it modeled a realistic New York setting.

Avenue Q was unexpectedly touching. With a humorous plot, it allowed the audience to connect with their inner-child while answering some grown-up questions about life, friendship and love in our fast paced lives.

HURRY! This show ends on September 13th!
www.avenueq.com