a Press Review On We are Proud to Present
since I saw it on Monday, even though Thursday was opening night. And the name of the show isn’t the only handful that can be said about it. The show depicts a failure, that of the actors. As a whole, it explores the themes of racism and identity to find that racism is a lot bigger than you think.
There are two layers in the show: (no, I will no longer be referring to it by name at all)
Process
Presentation
Presentation is simple. The stage dims to show only the characters and what you want it to see.
Process, on the other hand, is when the stage is lit, uncaring for what the actors are doing.
The performers are different too. In Process, they for the most part are playing the actors; Actors 1 thru 6, correspond to
In Presentation the performers play the characters, or rather they play the actors playing the characters; White Man, Black Man, Another White Man, Another Black Man, Sarah, and Black Woman, resp.
Notice the lack of names. I feel that this allows you to step into their shoes relate better than if they had names and you could say “That’s not me, that’s Jeff!”
The show, while exploring racism and identity, tries to detail the Herero genocide.
This is where it fails.
If you haven’t seen it yet then 1) it’s no longer showing so 2) how dare you and 3) this is a “press review” and 4) spoilers. During the final scene, Actors 1/3/5 get too into it and unintentionally force Actor 2 from the project. Thus they cannot finish their show, and Actor 4 is left to end the show.
