By Eva Phillips
In remarks discussing the nature of violent and racist language, Claudia Rankine cited the post-structural linguistic semiotics of fellow intellectual Judith Butler, stating,
“Not long ago you are in a room where someone asks the philosopher Judith Butler what makes language hurtful. You can feel everyone lean in. Our very being exposes us to the address of another, she answers. We suffer from the condition of being addressable. Our emotional openness, she adds, is carried by our addressability. Language navigates this. For so long you thought the ambition of racist language was to denigrate and erase you as a person. After considering Butler’s remarks you begin to understand yourself as rendered hyper-visible in the face of such language acts. Language that feels hurtful is intended to exploit all the ways that you are present. Your alertness, your openness, your desire to engage actually demand your presence, your looking up, your talking back as insane as it is, saying please.”
Rankine, known for confronting race, discursive tensions, depictions of racial violence, and motifs of loneliness and isolation (exponentially exacerbated by racial disparities) throughout her ouevre, created the provocative and devastating play, The White Card, seemingly with precisely this Judith Butler observation in mind. The White Card is a play designed to situate its audience squarely where they belong–in the middle of a grossly uncomfortable dinner party, and, ultimately, an utterly dire conversation about race and privilege in America.
As their ambitious, second ever production, up-and-coming, female-run company Cross Stitch Theatre Company stages Rankine’s crucial piece The White Card. Directed thoughtfully and passionately by Alyse M. Hogan, The White Card opens with Charles (Andy Privarnik), an art collector who amasses a fortune working in construction, pondering a beautifully visceral Basquiat painting. We learn that the space, austere and starkly minimalist, is in fact his home (not an art studio), which he shares with his wife Virginia (Lisa Cammerlo) and occasionally his youngest son, Alex (Grant Jones). Charles and Virginia are joined by their friend and fellow art docent, Eric (Kevin Mahler) as they wait to wine and dine lustrous visual artist Charlotte (Dominique Briggs) to both commission her work and potentially, as Charles nauseatingly reveals, give her studio space to give the appearance of diversity to his board. As the evening tensely unfolds, Charlotte–whose medium is photography and artistic vision is exposing (often by restaging) the aggressions and microaggressions committed against black and brown individuals everyday–grows agonizingly aware that this dinner party is an all-too-familiar type of courtship by individuals who each strikingly represent a form of white-stereotype (and all are guilty of white savior complex to a certain degree).
Much of the impact of Rankine’s powerful script, and Hogan’s brilliantly compelling staging of it, is the organic reveal and unfurling of events throughout the story, and the manner in which the audience is thrust into conversations and interactions. Shock and discomfort (in the best, theatrical sense) are crucial for The White Card, so I will abstain from divulging any more of the plot than I have. What can be said with certainty, and without spoiling anything, is that Hogan’s deep understanding for both nuances of effective and experimental theatre, and her devotion to bringing the most crucial themes of Rankine’s work to life makes her production electric and essential. Hogan’s burgeoning aplomb as a director is wonderfully on display throughout White Card, and her unwavering commitment to the absolutely vital and necessary material and message of the show is superb.
While there is some stumbling with the, at times, unconventionally paced and styled dialogue, the performers of White Card are gifted at handling the meta and micro focuses of the show. It is a delight to see Dominique Briggs in a leading role, and her turn as Charlotte both drives the show and lingers with you long after watching her stellar performance. As a sort of foil to Charlotte (in terms of perspective and experience as a woman), Lisa Cammerlo is tremendously impassioned, and gives life in an impressive and complex way to a character who could be easily disregarded. Additionally, as the ferocious, activist son Alex, Grant Jones delivers a robust and engagingly emotional performance. The entire ensemble plays well off one another, and clearly are invested in portraying the crucialness of Rankine’s work, and growing in the process.
Cross-Stitch Theatre Company is quickly solidifying themselves as a company that makes daring and provocative dramaturgical choices, and uplifting narratives that need to be explored. The White Card is a non-traditional theatrical experience that should be experienced and discussed.
The White Card runs through Nov. 17th at the Ryan Arts Center and Sto-Rox Library in McKees Rocks. The show contains strong language and discussion of racial violence, specifically the murders of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. For tickets and more information, visit their Cross-Stich’s site.
Categories: Archived Reviews