one black student who negotiate
racial identity and racism in each
time period. Hopefully, the twists
and turns in the plot will surprise and satisfy the audience,
so I won’t reveal them here, but
I will say that above all, for me,
College Colors is about friendship. Of course, it explores the
constraints that racism and prejudice put on relationships. But,
I hope, friendship is the hero of
the piece.
I am fascinated by the ways in
which our conceptions of self, of
identity are stretched and made
bigger by our relationships with
others--and not just by romantic relationships or familial relationships, but by platonic ones.
Friendship is so often the bridge
between different cultures and
experiences--and yet, so much
of the time, it takes a backseat to
romantic love in films and plays
and books.
The play is called a comedy.
NewJerseyStage.com
Is this a situation in which you
use comedy to diffuse a rather
sensitive topic?
That’s a great question. I always feel that, as in life, many
of the most painful and impossible situations provide the best
platforms for humor. I think this
is because human beings are
resilient. We laugh at ourselves,
at life, and even at our own pain.
So, certainly there is a bit of that
here. Because this play centers
around two unlikely but important friendships, the characters
help each other, and therefore
the audience, find humor in that
which would otherwise be almost unbearable. Of course, the
play is not all funny; there are
certainly some dark moments.
But I would also say that the
other reason that there is humor
is because, ultimately, if I have
done my job correctly, the play
is hopeful. And that hope, that
optimism allows for comedy.
2016 - ISSUE 1
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