-Damn Skippy!
Taste-Test
WHITE by James Ijames [iams] is a playtext that explores race in modern America. As said in notes, "The play should feel like a sitcom until it's not" (Ijames, WHITE 5).
"Genius is personal, decided by fate, but it expresses itself by means of system. There is no work of art without the system." - Le Corbusier
Characters
GUS- white, gay male artist in his 30s
VANESSA - Black improv actor in her 30s; also plays DIANA ROSS "The Vision" and BALKONAÉ TOWNSEND "The Art"
JANE- white woman, curator at the Parnell, in her 30s.
TANNER- English Teacher and GUS's Asian boyfriend in his late 20s/ early 30s.
Location
As per the playwright's instructions, productions work best when directors and actors do not place each setting or location. In class, I learned this might be to create a broader awareness that lack of diversity and racial tokens occur everywhere, that metropolises, suburbs, and small towns will not get the pass because it is not set, say only in New York City or only at The Met. With that said, I read the play with a New York-type feel.
"...don't be afraid of your shadows having white in them..." - James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Summary
GUS wants into his friend JANE's art exhibit, but she does not allow him in because of the up-and-coming art exhibit that is supposed to feature new and different voices. JANE actually says, "Yeah. No white dudes" at GUS's objection that he is underrepresented because he is gay (Ijames, WHITE 1.1.1).
My Favorite Tid-Bites
2.) Ijames included goddess DIANNA ROSS, RuPaul's IDOL (❁´◡`❁). Miss Ross, the vision, shows up as a godmother of sorts and leaves with giving GUS the mission of channeling his inner Black woman, which he so hilariously misinterprets. Leaving the medium of the vision up to each production's choosing is a richly developed choice Ijames allowed theatres when reproducing the play. ST. DIANE, as she is known in WHITE, can be like a dream, mirage, or plain, in-your-face day.
3.) VANESSA's BALKONAÉ, the "Bla-African American," is also delightfully hilarious and delusional. To me, this version of BALKONAÉ appeared as a more out-there version of Denise from the BILL COSBY SHOW. I related to VANESSA having that MySpace page where she wanted the world to know her as the young woman who enjoyed French poetry and wore berets, despite that confidence and indulgence not being the everyday VANESSA. VANESSA's BALKONAÉ reminded me of a slightly offensive but charismatic woman who keeps her nose pointed up and wears scarves that hang off the body with earrings and platforms.
4.) Character interactions were well-timed with the beats (long enough to say beat), ...loss of thoughts, /overlapping text, silence, -interruptions, and previously standing relationships between everyone. I have a secret: I want TANNER to be my boyfriend too. He was honest and loving with GUS but also provided tough love and reflection on race as an Asian from more than the Black/White fetishized war in America.
-You think you slick, but you ain't slick enough to slide." -African American Proverb
5.) There was some heavy truth to the play that I thought Ijames portrayed well. (Again, "a sitcom until it's not.") For example, what was that ending??! I liked the play until that point, but on page 64 during the internal battle between VANESSA and BALKONAÉ, I fell in love with WHITE.
OVERALL
I enjoyed reading the playtext but I did not enjoy the in-class discussion in Theatre Appreciation because my interpretation of the play was different from the professor and students who looked to him for guidance on what opinions to form. For example, I did not read Jane The Parnell's curator as stuffy and the type of woman who embodies white ignorance surrounding Black rights. I actually saw JANE as kind of an artsy type who wanted to open up more opportunities for unheard voices in the New America Exhibit.
Disclaimer (Hardly even know her😂)
* click here for preview of the play that includes the first 11 pages via Dramatists Play Service.
** "the poetry quotes like Damn Skippy! and African American Proverb were provided on the opening pages.
***for those who are just learning (like I am), the in-text MLA citations of the play are (author last name, play title act.scene.line)