Northern Vermont's home for contemporary theatre
Vermont Stage
  • Shows & Events
    • Airness
    • Venus in Fur 2023
    • The Bake Off 2023
  • Donate
  • About
    • Equity and Inclusion statement
    • Past Productions >
      • Winter Tales 2022
      • The Pitmen Painters
      • Women in Jeopardy!
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
  • Where
    • Accessibility
    • Safety Precautions
  • Education
    • Vermont Young Playwrights
  • Contact
    • Available Jobs
    • Get Involved

TalkBack Thursday Panelist Rachel Siegel on Racism in our Community

4/29/2015

0 Comments

 
PicturePhoto Credit: Matthew Thorson
It is highly unlikely that I will ever know the horror that Tamir Rice’s mom experienced when she had to choose between going to the hospital with her dying son or to the police station with her daughter who was handcuffed and in the custody of the men who had shot her son. This is true not just because it is a very rare horror, but also because my children are white.

I did not choose to live in a racist world – none of us did – but it is our responsibility to change it. As a white person, I believe that it is my responsibility more so than those who are being persecuted by racism. This is not so I can be the noble white woman, coming to help those in need. It is because my freedom is tied to your freedom. If my liberation is resting on someone else’s oppression and I don’t work to address that, then I am disconnected from humanity and on a journey of slow spiritual death. This is not the same as the literal death that racism causes, but it is dehumanizing in its own way.

I am honored to serve as the Executive Director of the Peace & Justice Center and to have been invited to participate in Vermont Stage’s TalkBack Thursday panel for The Mountaintop. I grew up here in Burlington and my family did not talk much about race and racism. I knew I was against racism, but I did not know that I benefited from it. In my late teens I started my journey of actively unlearning racism and realized how little I knew. I thought diversity would help me and when I was thinking about having kids, I wanted to raise them somewhere more racially diverse. But a friend it was pointed out that, wherever I landed, racism would exist and it would be my responsibility to talk about it with my kids. This was one of those “a-ha” moments that seem so obvious in retrospect.

I have two kids with my partner Jules, both white, 11 and 8 years old. We live in Burlington and we talk to them about race and racism regularly. It isn’t easy – I sometimes don’t know how to say things, I’m sometimes missing information, and the topic itself is horrifying. Three concepts have been instrumental in my process of unlearning racism and I’ll share them here:

1.      white privilege 
2.      white fragility
3.      and what I call the “language of race and racism”

There are white people who say that they are not privileged because they are poor, queer, or otherwise oppressed.  There are others who claim that they work hard and have earned what they have.  Neither of these are untrue.  But it is also true that all white people have racial privilege.  It is sometimes helpful to replace the work “privileged” with the word “advantaged.”  When we look at indicators like life expectancy, education, wealth, or health, certain racial groups are disadvantaged.  Others are then, by definition, advantaged.  I do work hard and I have endured hardships, but each of these hardships would have been harder were I not white.

The language of race and racism is simply that – words and phrases used to discuss these things.  As someone who did not grow up talking about race and racism regularly, these phrases don’t always come easy to me. It is like learning any new language.  If I were to learn Portuguese, I would expect to make mistakes, feel awkward, and improve with time.  The same is true for the language of race and racism.  As beginners, it feels forced and we say things wrong.  I can improve but will never become fluent.  My children, however, who are growing up with it in their vocabulary, might.  This gives me much hope and definitely motivates me.

White fragility is a concept that I recently learned about as articulated by Robin DiAngelo, professor of multicultural education at Westfield State University.  It is easiest to describe as a self-perpetuating cycle as follows:

  • We live in an unequal culture.  
  • Racism is taught as individual acts, not systems of oppression.  
  • When white people are told that they are benefiting from or participating in a racist system, they become defensive and feel attacked.  
  • The feeling of attack creates a physiological response that might include increased heartrate, increased blood pressure, sweaty palms, and shaking.  
  • This is real and scary and leads white people to limit when and how to talk about race and racism.
  • Thus, with the conversation limited, inequality is upheld.

This idea of white fragility leads me to commit even more to talking about race and racism when it makes me shake, when I’m scared I’m going to say the wrong thing, and when I think I’m going to expose a shortcoming of mine. If I don’t make mistakes and recognize them, I won’t improve. As I improve, hopefully I am equipping my kids to carry this movement further than I can ever hope to. If I don’t push myself forward through the fear, I am accepting the discomfort of others and benefiting from it.

The Peace & Justice Center has several workshops in our Racial and Economic Awareness Initiative including the following:
  • How to Talk to Kids About Racism
  •  “The New Jim Crow” Book Discussion 
  •  Building Empathy and Eliminating Oppression: a Deep Look at Racial and Religious Prejudice
  • Privilege and Accountability: Becoming an Ally
Please be in touch if you would like to host a workshop or join a public one.


0 Comments

Jolie Garrett on playing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in The Mountaintop

4/20/2015

0 Comments

 
Jolie GarrettActor Jolie Garrett
What is your process for building a character?
My process is pretty straight forward. I start by memorizing the words the character has been given to say (his lines). I always read them out loud so that I can hear the specific sounds and I observe closely how just the sounds themselves affect me emotionally. After I have memorized the words, I start linking the words together into logical thought processes. One thought may be fourteen lines or a separate thought may be one word. Then I take those thoughts and connect them to specific actions. Acting is doing; the character is always doing something with his words.....persuading, scolding, wooing, condemning, inciting, tickling, probing, and so prevalently in The Mountaintop, calling to action! The final stage of my character building process is working with a director in rehearsal to find the TRUTH of the character. That is to say, finding out exactly why the character is in the play--what does he want and how is he going to go about getting it. In actor jargon we say, what is the character fighting for? Once you answer that question, then you work together to find the strongest and clearest actions to accomplish this task. I'm a stickler for finding clarity in any play. In order for an audience to understand what the playwright is saying, the actor must clearly understand what he is saying. Then your character continues to grow through performance of the play. Just as the actor continues to learn something new every day, so does his character. It is a never-ending process.

How have you been preparing to take on this role?
This role is unique in that I am representing a real-life icon, one revered by so many people around the world, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Not only do people expect you to resemble him but also to sound like him. Playwright Katori Hall very cleverly writes in her stage directions how certain lines are to be said in "King voice." So, I had to find that register in my voice which matches Dr. King's to the best of my ability. I listened to his speeches on YouTube over and over again to get his cadences down--his modulations and inflections. Also, he spoke very slowly and measured when he gave those famous speeches of his (though none of them are in this play). He wanted to make sure the gravity of his words really hit home.

Is there anything about the role that intimidates you?
No. I consider it an honor to play Dr. King, one of the greatest humanitarians of our time. I feel more of a sense of pride and respect than intimidation.

What are the challenges behind portraying someone so well-known and iconic?
Sounding like him--he had one of the most recognizable voices in the world. Then when you get the voice down, the greater challenge is infusing the words with the kind of gravity and profound meaning that Dr. King brought to them. Though none of his famous speeches are in this play, Katori Hall has given me some very rich language to work with, language that I believe Dr. King himself might have used.

In The Mountaintop we get to see a side of Dr. King that many people are not familiar with--the private King. In this play he drinks, smokes, curses, flirts, laughs, and even challenges God. We are so used to seeing the world-weary Dr. King who is so serious and the fiery pulpit "Preacher 'Kang'." So, to show this other private side of him while still maintaining those facets of the iconic Dr. King that most people know is a great challenge.

The Mountaintop was one of the Top 10 Most Produced plays in America last season and continues to be produced all over the country. What is it about the script that continues to resonate with audiences?
The profoundly human element of it. The scope of this short play is all-encompassing. The Mountaintop challenges us as a society. It poses the questions: "where does hate come from and how do we rid ourselves of it? Are we even capable of ridding our society of hate, discrimination, and racism and can it be done non-violently?" Dr. King believed that only love could cure hate. This play dares to suggest that maybe, just maybe, we can become a peaceful society and finally conquer hate if only we can learn to truly love our fellow man. It gives us HOPE!

Vermont Stage’s mission is “to create theatre that makes our community a better place.” What do you hope audiences will be talking about after seeing the show?
I hope they will reflect on what Dr. King meant to them and how he changed their lives for the better. Then I hope they'll be talking about what they plan to actively DO in their community to improve race relations and fight discrimination and poverty. I hope they will explain to their children who Dr. King was and why he is an icon. If we all could become just a little bit more like Dr. King, what a powerful world-changing thing that would be!

What is your favorite line from the show? Why do you think Katori Hall wrote it? What does it mean to you?
"You are standing at the edge of Canaan, on a mountaintop made from the dreams of men and women who have paid the ultimate price with their lives." 


I think Katori Hall wrote this play because she had a burning fascination with what might have happened in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel on April 3, 1968. More importantly, she wanted to let the world know that the struggle is not over! We are still fighting some of the exact same battles in 2015 that Dr. King was fighting in 1968. To me The Mountaintop means that there's still HOPE for humanity, if we'll just heed the call and take action! 



0 Comments

Myxolydia Tyler  on playing 'Camae' in The Mountaintop

4/15/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureMyxolydia Tyler
This will be the second time Myxolydia Tyler has played the role of Camae. The first was at CenterStage in Baltimore in 2013. We asked Myxy if there were any challenges in playing the same character in two different productions. Here's what she had to say... 

Every time I get the chance to sit with a character and walk in their shoes I realize that my feet have changed. I am not the same person I was yesterday. The things that are on my mind and in my heart have changed. And as an actor I have to be in tune to where I am at today and allow that to inform my approach to the character I am to inhabit. I also always hear something different than I did the last time I played a role. My overall approach to embodying any role is to try and see it with fresh eyes, ears, and heart. 



That being said one nice thing, especially for this show because it so dialogue heavy, is that the words are still inside my brain. This time around it did not take as long to get the words back. Now, getting them back in the right order is another story (smile). The major challenge for me in the process is to make sure I am truly listening to my scene partner and not just saying my lines preemptively because I know the play so well. Ultimately this has been a very different journey than the previous time I played Camae. I have enjoyed every minute of it and  if I get the chance to stand in her shoes again I will have changed even more and so my performance hopefully will reflect that.

0 Comments

Sue Wade on designing props for The Mountaintop

4/7/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
It’s so much fun to be asked to write a blog post for Vermont Stage!

As the properties manager, I always think of myself as the smallest cog in the theater machine: set design, costumes, lighting, sound  - all seem more important than whether I can find the perfect flashlight or an authentic looking dead seagull, and I often wonder how much difference my agonizing over which plastic glass Martin Luther King Jr. would use, or if the family in Other Desert Cities owns a gold flecked Christmas tree or a white one,  makes.

When I read the plays, or see them in rehearsal, I almost immediately get a clear picture of the objects a character owns or uses, and how these objects shape not only the personality of the character, but sometimes the plot as well.

This particular play, The Mountaintop, has unique challenges. Since it is based on a real person, and takes place in a real motel, there isn’t as much room for interpretation. Because the motel room still exists, we want our set to be as close as possible to how things looked  and felt in 1968. That means looking for the proper worn carpet, the seedy motel wall art, matching mid-century headboards, and, most difficult, an old black and white TV.

There is also the detail of the newspaper. Normally, I would just make a mock-up, with the proper masthead, with  the “news” my own creation. But The Commercial Appeal (the Memphis, Tennessee newspaper) from April 4, 1968 is a historical artifact, and should be reproduced accurately. So, this time I will use a service that makes props for movies, and have the front page done with headlines and stories exactly as printed.

So when you look at the dirty dishes, full ashtrays, and rumpled sheets in this set, you can think of me artistically daubing old food, stubbing out half-burned cigarettes and ironing wrinkles into sheets, all for accuracy’s sake!

1 Comment

“Just a Man”: Katori Hall’s deeply human Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in The Mountaintop

4/1/2015

 
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“I’m just a man…I’m a sinner, not a saint,” confesses Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in The Mountaintop, Katori Hall’s reimagining of the famed Civil Rights Movement leader’s last night in this world. In The Mountaintop, we visit the Memphis motel where King was staying when he was assassinated in April, 1968. But, as the character’s statement above indicates, this is no docudrama or reverential tribute to the Reverend’s achievements. Rather, Hall suggests that behind closed doors, Martin Luther King was more ordinary than we might expect. Yes, he had a heroic drive to crusade for justice, and an extraordinary ability to inspire millions with his speeches—but Hall imagines that underneath the brave words, he must have harbored flaws and fears we can all relate to.

The Mountaintop’s depiction of Dr. King is a blend of fact and authorial invention. As Hall explained in a 2013 interview with NPR, “This play is highly fictionalized, almost anti-historical, even though it starts on April 3, 1968.” King was indeed lodging in Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel that evening, having flown to Tennessee to support black sanitation workers on strike. What transpires in Room 306 in Hall’s script, however, is her fantasy about what his state of mind might have been. The story begins when King returns to the room, having just delivered his prophetic “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” address at Mason Temple. He’s tired, stressed, and craving a cigarette. Welcome distraction arrives in the form of Camae, a young maid who brings him coffee and a newspaper. With no small amount of flirting, he convinces her to keep him company for a while. Initially she’s intimidated by his celebrity, but as the night wears on, she proves more than a match for the venerable “Preacher Kang.” She questions the efficacy of his emphasis on non-violent methods of protest. She calls him out for having smelly feet. And when he jumps at the sounds of the storm raging outside, or clutches at his overburdened heart in a moment of panic, she’s a source of solace.

A Dr. King who smokes and drinks whiskey? A Dr. King who’s faced bomb threats and bullets and police brutality, but is afraid of thunder? It might seem hard to believe—shocking, even. But in pulling him off his pedestal, Katori Hall is after something much deeper. She describes her portrayal as “a very human approach to Dr. King.” According to Hall, it’s easy to look at a figure like Martin Luther King, Jr. and forget that, like us, he was once flesh and blood. Our history books have elevated him to near-sainthood, making his myriad accomplishments seem superhuman. Seeing King light up a cigarette or notice an attractive woman or reach out for reassurance brings him back down to earth. He becomes someone with whom we can empathize, because he’s fallible and vulnerable. And all that he’s achieved becomes even more impressive, because we realize it was the work of a man, not a myth.

Exploring King’s humanity is also a project of personal significance for Hall. An African-American woman from Memphis, she grew up literally surrounded by the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement—and aware that, for all the Movement’s successes, as a society we still have farther to go in the march toward true equality. For example, despite the substantial progress King made with desegregation in the legal system, Hall’s was the only black family in their neighborhood. “I had to contend with people hating me for no reason at all… just due to our unfortunate history as Americans,” she has said. “I just had to figure out, where does this come from? What are we fighting for?” In The Mountaintop, we watch King ask himself the same questions and admit to Camae that he feels like a failure. Hall’s digging into King’s doubts illustrates a difficult answer: meaningful change usually can’t be achieved quickly or without struggle, and there’s always more to be done. In his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, King envisioned a better future almost within reach—but in Hall’s play, no matter how hard he fights the fact of his imminent death, he won’t live to see his dream become reality. Now, Hall implies, it’s our turn to fight for the better future that King foresaw.

It’s no wonder that The Mountaintop has resonated with audiences both in America and abroad. Upon its 2009 London premiere, it won the prestigious Olivier Award for Best New Play. In 2011 it was produced on Broadway, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett, and has spread to countless other stages across the country. With heart, humor, and theatrical spectacle, Katori Hall’s luminous play reminds us that if King could accomplish so much despite his many foibles, than maybe in our own small ways, we can too. As Hall puts it, “Showing the humanity in our heroes allows us to see the hero in ourselves.”

—Hannah Rae Montgomery

Reprinted with permission by Actors Theatre of Louisville

    Archives

    January 2019
    September 2018
    April 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013

    Categories

    All
    Acting
    A Doll's House
    American Hero
    A.R. Gurney
    Art
    Bess Wohl
    Beyond Therapy
    Blackberry Winter
    Christopher Durang
    Costuming
    Curious Incident
    Dancing Lessons
    David Ives
    Designing
    Directing
    Dramaturgy
    Fun Home
    Greg Pierce
    I And You
    Jon Robin Baitz
    Karen Zacarias
    Katori Hall
    Lauren Gunderson
    Liz Duffy Adams
    Mark St. Germain
    Mothers And Sons
    Native Gardens
    News
    Nina Raine
    Or
    Other Desert Cities
    Part 2
    Playwriting
    Q&A
    Slowgirl
    Steve Yockey
    Terrence McNally
    The Bake Off
    The Call
    The Dining Room
    The Mountaintop
    The Quarry
    Tigers Be Still
    Tribes
    Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike
    Venus In Fur
    Yasmina Reza

Season Sponsors
Picture
main street landing logo
Picture
Join our mailing list