“font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;”>“This case isn’t about sex, it’s about race,” the Susan character tells her boss Charles Strickland in David Mamet’s play “font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;”>Race
“What’s the difference?” he responds.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>To say that Mamet attempts to lay everything on the table with his presentation of sex and race in Race would be an understatement. The same can be said for The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis for bringing the 2009 Broadway hit to the mainstage.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>John Ezell’s smart contemporary set and Brian Sidney Bembridge’s dramatic lighting choices are perfect, but the burden of gracefully presenting Race to St. Louis fell on the shoulders of director Timothy Near.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Doing so was no easy feat, with the play’s jagged language and unapologetic ideas regarding how blacks and whites think, believe, feel and act towards each other and themselves.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>In Race, partners of a popular law firm have operated under the premise that they had moved beyond “the race issue.” They even use their “understandings” about race to their advantage. That is, until a high-profile case landed in their lap and blows open the door of the secret rooms where each of the employees has hidden away their true feelings, intentions and ulterior motives.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Their wealthy client proclaims his innocence in a case where he is accused of victimizing and underprivileged an African-American woman. But just as in sex and race, the details of the case are far from black and white.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>While the idea of creating an open forum on such sensitive subject matter is refreshing, certain aspects of the production actually fuel confusion.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>The manic pace of Mamet’s dialogue in the first act left the audience dizzy from the choppy exchanges, laced with excessive profanity. The complexity of the conversation rivals that of the race issue itself. The confused audience is further led astray by a lack of authenticity and chemistry between the four-person cast, leaving them with the impression that being a rapist is more acceptable in society than being a racist.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>The only compelling element was the insight offered with respect to warranted stereotypes of the worst kind of lawyers and how they manipulate the justice system via the court of public opinion.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>The second half of the short production offers more enlightenment with the idea of guilt and shame being the foundation of racial feeling. By this point the cast has established a momentum that offsets some of the glitches that come with an unblended cast.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Morocco Omari is the bright spot among the ensemble of characters as black attorney Henry Brown. His authenticity is refreshing among the group of often contrived or perfunctory performances. Zoey Martinson attempts to reach with her portrayal of Susan, but falls short of grasping the character’s intensity, passion and rage.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Jeff Talbot and Mark Elliot Wilson are equally unconvincing. But their apparent reservations about fully embodying the characters they are charged with portraying further supports Mamet’s notion that America has plenty of work to do when it comes to being honest about race.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Their performances supported Race’s hypothesis about the guilt and shame factor, but the play itself expressed another impediment to healthy race relations that was left unmentioned.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Pride also stands in the way of the characters moving beyond black and white and towards human. Because of pride in the advancements that have been made a publicly, a post-racial society is declared and applauded – but behind closed doors, blacks and whites drift further apart in an abyss of misunderstanding.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>The Rep’s presentation of Race continues through March 4 at the Loretto-Hilton Center for Performing Arts (on the campus of Webster University), 130 Edgar Rd. For more information visit
“http://www.repstl.org/”>www.repstl.org
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>A special talk entitled “Conversations…Racism” will take place on Monday, February 27 at 7 p.m. The talk will be moderated by Carol Daniel of KMOX.
