"Prep" at Pillsbury House Theatre

It's been quite a week. Both in the real world, with yet another tragic mass shooting at a school, and in my theater world (which sometimes feels more real to me than the real world does). I started my week in theater with the Guthrie's beautiful production of the American classic To Kill A Mockingbird, about the wrongful conviction of a black man in 1930s Alabama. I followed that up with Roger Guenveur Smith's virtuoso performance in the one-man-show he created about Rodney King, whose brutal beating by LAPD officers in the early '90s led to one of the most deadly riots in our nation's history. While both of these events take place in the past, and one is fictional, there are striking parallels to the events of today that led to the Black Lives Matter movement. So it was with a heavy heart at the state of the world that I showed up at Pillsbury House Theatre last night. Having seen Tracey Scott Wilson's Buzzer twice, I knew that her new play Prep, commissioned by Pillsbury House and written after "extensive interviews with students, parents, and residents regarding racial tension in Minneapolis," would not be easy. But I was pleased that after this week of violence and injustice in the real and theater world, this one left me with a bit of hope. Yes there's plenty of work to do, but maybe, through the kindness and attention of individual to individual, we can all get along.

Prep actually reminds me more of The Gospel of Lovingkindness, seen at Pillsbury House earlier this year, than Buzzer, in that the three characters mostly speak to the audience in monologues (often responding to recorded voices), rather than speak to each other. Even when two of them are in a scene together, they often speak to the audience about each other. This device really lets us get inside each character's head to know what they're thinking and feeling. The first character we meet is "Miss" (Jodi Kellogg), the principal of an underprivileged school in an unnamed city, who sends her children to Ivy-league-like school a few miles away. But she genuinely cares for her students and wants them to succeed. She's taken a special interest in Chris (Kory LaQuess Pullam), a good student who is struggling after the recent death of his friend in a drive-by shooting. He has some disturbing ideas about how to make a statement and spur change in the community. He tells his friend Oliver (Ryan Colbert) about it, which angers him and causes a fight, leading to events that change the three and the school for good. But not in the way that you think.

Ryan Colbert, Kory LaQuess Pullam, and Jodi Kellogg

Tracey Scott Wilson has written the play with a rhythm and rhyming scheme that makes one think of Shakespeare. These three actors are all wonderful at speaking her words lyrically, yet still making them sound like natural speech. Joseph Stanley's sparse set with chain-link fence on the back wall and two raised platforms creates a simple and colorless backdrop for the story. Director Noël Raymond guides her actors well through the rhythm of the words and the story, and lets each establish their character in their own space on the stage, until they start intermingling in space as their storylines connect.

In just over an hour, Pillsbury House Theatre's Prep tackles some heavy themes of racism and violence in a realistic yet poetic way. It doesn't offer solutions so much as a ray of hope and a way to think and talk about the issues. Playing now through October 18.

"Buzzer" by Pillsbury House Theatre at the Guthrie Studio Theater

The new play Buzzer by Tracey Scott Wilson premiered at Pillsbury House Theatre last year. It explores issues of race, class, gender, and gentrification in this seemingly post-racial world. It's one of those plays that'll leave you with a slightly uneasy feeling because of the very real and intense issues it brings up. Like all theater by Pillsbury House, it's more than just a play, it's an exploration of ideas, conflicts, and issues that are extremely relevant to the world we live in, but that we may be reluctant to face. That's what great theater does, make us face those issues head on. If you missed it last year, you have a second chance to see it at the Guthrie studio (playing now through March 3), where the entire cast and creative team has reassembled. The play may have been tweaked a bit since its last run, but I didn't notice any drastic changes from when I saw it last year; it's as if the entire production was plucked out of Pillsbury House and placed intact in the Guthrie Studio. It was one of my favorite plays last year, and the kind of play that almost requires repeat viewing, so I was more than happy to see it again.

Tracey Scott Wilson has crafted an intense one-act drama, with the action and the tension constantly building. Scenes overlap; a character will be having a conversation, then turn and begin a new scene and conversation with another character without taking a breath. It never lets up, until the final painful confrontation. Here's the plot summary I wrote last year:

Jackson is a successful lawyer who grew up poor in a neighborhood filled with drugs and violence, and was able to get himself out and make a better life for himself. He rents (to own) a newly remodeled apartment in his old neighborhood, which is transitioning from a "bad neighborhood" to one with coffee shops and lofts and restaurants. He and his girlfriend Suzy, a teacher in the inner-city schools, move in. Jackson convinces Suzy to let his down-on-his-luck best friend Don move in with them, despite her reluctance. Don is from a privileged background, and despite constantly getting himself into trouble, has been able to get out of it thanks to his rich and powerful father. Jackson was given nothing and worked hard to achieve the life he wanted, while Don squandered every opportunity he had. But somehow the two men remained friends. Their friendship is tested when Suzy tells Don that she's being harassed on the street, and they grow closer. Each member of the trio has their own plan to end the harassment. Suzy thinks that if she stays strong and ignores the bullies, they'll eventually stop. Jackson wants to threaten them with violence, while Don thinks reasoning with them and being friendly will solve the problem. The conflict grows inside the apartment and outside on the street.

Namir Smallwood, Sara Richardson, and Hugh Kennedy

Hugh Kennedy won an Ivey Award for his performance as Don, and seeing it again it's even more clear why.  He completely embodies this damaged character struggling with his demons and trying to live a better and sober life. It's a very physical performance; Don's addiction is apparent in his jittery hands and frenetic energy as he moves uneasily around the apartment. Namir Smallwood and Sara Richardson are also great as the troubled couple Jackson and Suzy. Each of these three actors creates a complex character, all of whom make bad choices at times but are very real and relatable. Marion McClinton returns as director and brings all of this complexity together in a cohesive way (check out this feature on MN Original about his amazing career journey). Lastly, the simple and elegant set by Dean Holzman (which looks very similar to what I remember from last year's production) provides a great space for the story to take place.

The title refers to the broken buzzer in the apartment building, and who the residents are willing to let in based on their own prejudices and assumptions, which may not agree with what they claim to believe. In the program notes, the playwright says, "The young characters in Buzzer think they are beyond race. They were raised on ethnic food, multi-cultural TV and hip-hop. They don't discuss race because they don't see race. They know slavery was an abomination and all men are created equal. What's to discuss? They discover that there is a lot to discuss and keeping silent is much more destructive than speaking the truth." This play breaks through the silence and speaks the truth, at least from the point of view of each of these three complex characters. It doesn't offer any solutions, but addressing the issues and bringing them to light is a great beginning.

"Buzzer" at Pillsbury House Theatre

Pillsbury House Theatre's production of the new play Buzzer (by playwright Tracey Scott Wilson) is a very modern play about race, class, gender, relationships, and gentrification of neighborhoods.  Three characters, an interracial couple and their recovering addict friend, struggle to find their way in this seemingly "post-racial" world.

Jackson is a successful lawyer who grew up poor in a neighborhood filled with drugs and violence, and was able to get himself out and make a better life for himself.  He rents (to own) a newly remodeled apartment in his old neighborhood, which is transitioning from a "bad neighborhood" to one with coffee shops and lofts and restaurants.  He and his girlfriend Suzy, a teacher in the inner-city schools, move in.  Jackson convinces Suzy to let his down-on-his-luck best friend Don move in with them, despite her reluctance.  Don is from a privileged background, and despite constantly getting himself into trouble, has been able to get out of it thanks to his rich and powerful father.  Jackson was given nothing and worked hard to achieve the life he wanted, while Don squandered every opportunity he had.  But somehow the two men remained friends.  Their friendship is tested when Suzy tells Don that she's being harassed on the street, and they grow closer.  Each member of the trio has their own plan to end the harassment.  Suzy thinks that if she stays strong and ignores the bullies, they'll eventually stop.  Jackson wants to threaten them with violence, while Don thinks reasoning with them and being friendly will solve the problem.  The conflict grows inside the apartment and outside on the street.

The three-person cast is fantastic in bringing these characters to life, and making them all at times sympathetic and at times maddening.  Sara Richardson, who was fabulous as Fraulein Sally Bowles in Cabaret last year, is equally good here playing this completely different and much more real character.  Namir Smallwood (the exiled prince in Ten Thousand Things' Life's a Dream) plays her boyfriend Jackson with great intensity, and possesses a powerful angry stare (as was pointed out in the post-show discussion), which he wears as a weapon.  Hugh Kennedy (my favorite Hamlet) is the third wheel, Don, and plays him with a restless frenetic energy that's appropriate for an addict trying not to go back to his old ways (a little like David Arquette on a talk show, all fidgety nervousness).  The play is written in such a way that the scenes almost overlap.  One scene has barely ended when the next scene picks up immediately, which I found interesting and a great way to keep the momentum building.

In the audience the night I attended was a group of high school students.  It was really fun to watch them watch the play.  They were so present, so in the moment, so reactive to what was happening on stage.  I love theater, but perhaps a bit of the magic and wonder wears off when you see as much theater as I do.  But for these kids it was all still there.  It was refreshing to see.  They also had some interesting comments at the post-show discussion.  I love post-show discussions at Pillsbury because they always bring in someone from a community group that is working on some of the issues explored in the play.  With this piece it's the City of Lakes Community Land Trust, which "provides and fosters stewardship of perpetually affordable homeownership opportunities for low-income and moderate-income families and individuals."  It felt like a great community discussion, thoughtfully led by Artistic Associate and actor Kurt Kwan, rather than just a Q&A session with the actors.  There were comments from people who live in the neighborhood in which the theater resides (35th and Chicago), and someone who was a victim of gang violence, as well as the aforementioned students.  Theater is at it's best when it engages the audience in a conversation about very real issues facing people today, or at least gets you thinking about things in a different way.  That's something Pillsbury House Theatre does very well.

Buzzer is playing now through March 18, and all seats are "pay what you can," from $5 to $50, which is a pretty cool thing when theater tickets for the big touring productions go for $100.  You'll definitely get your money's worth and more, no matter what you pay!