Stacey Rose’s latest play, America v.2.1 hits you like a blow out of nowhere, leaves you disoriented and keeps you incredulous; especially through the entirety of its first segment. The play’s subtitle, The Sad Demise and Eventual Extinction of the American Negro, was probably intended as a warning for what you were about to drop into.
Anyone would have to consider this futuristic vision of a broken America an astounding piece of writing. One that comes to life when four people appear on stage engaged in a performance. It’s not until later that you realize they’re not performing for you; but for an unseen fictional audience. Both audiences are seeing the same performance, but they’re processing it in completely different ways. In our world, the real one, the play unfolding before us is outrageous, infuriating, odd and demonically off kilter. Dystopian aptly fits the vibe and that spirit will prove unrelenting. Early on it’s a place that carries pungent whiffs of menace and foreboding. In the fictional audience, children are encouraged to sit in the front row and everyone else is instructed to keep their firearms visible.
The actors are portraying definitive moments of American history that crystallize its beliefs on one topic. This “historical reenactment in four parts” ties those beliefs to race. The cast is Black but the statements they’re making completely contradict the realities of their Blackness. The equivalent of taking the racist rhetoric of the KKK and placing it in the mouth of a Black Panther, every line of dialogue becomes a repudiation of self. Rose’s intent here is to engage her audience boldly, even brazenly. And one of her goals is to make us confront the fact that the history we’re taught and the history that was, and is lived, can be very different truths. Rose also has the unique talent of threading her works with just enough subtletly to ignite a nagging curiosity about where her stories are going. America v.2.1 is no exception. And like much of her other work, it builds with quiet fascination.
Establishing the play’s climate, Arrival Through Slave Work, the first segment of the reenactment, calls to mind very recent Virginia history and the tools that were used to stimulate voter turnout during the race for governor. Beloved, Toni Morrison’s acclaimed novel that probes into the realities of slavery, became, for the second time in the state, a point of contention. A segment of parents voiced their opposition to subjecting their children to a curriculum that they considered disturbing or that conflicted with their own belief system about what slavery was.
America v.2.1 unchains the suppressed language of bigotry and places it in the mouths of those dehumanized by it. Because it’s not humankind’s nature to deny itself, there had to be a catch; a compelling reason for this abnormal behavior.
It’s backstage, between acts of the caricature show, that the actors begin to reveal themselves; but just slightly. At this point, they provide only an inkling of what’s driving them to demean themselves in toxic parody. But, they do start to become individuals. Led by Donovan (Kenneth D. Johnson), they run through limbering exercises in preparation for the next act. You sense tension between the other three. Leigh (Martasia Jones) is clearly the most confident. Her commitment to task borders on militaristic. The other two, Jeffrey (Bernard Gilbert) and Grant (Victor Musoni), don’t come into focus until later. There’s conflict between Jeffrey, who allows the vaguest glimmers of free will to peak through his façade, and Leigh. Grant is just doing his job, but as things progress, stress may be causing him to unravel. It’s Donovan’s job to keep them on task and committed to excelling in their insidious performances when they go back on stage. He reminds them this work is what allows them to be clothed and fed.
There’s also a fifth character (Carley Cornelius) that exists only as a voice. One that we associate with authoritarianism and often found in the realm of science fiction and cryptic fantasy. This voice transmits the kind of chill that could easily drop to ruthless. Just before the second part of the reenactment, “War, Hell and the Unfortunate Liberation of the American Negro”, she informs Donovan that she was not pleased with the show’s first reenactment. It was “sloppy and unreliable”. If things didn’t improve, there would be consequences. A reduction in food rations. That interaction entrenches the direction of the play.
Rose digs into areas that few enter with the zeal, artistry and imagination she brings to playwriting. The plight of being the “other”, celebrating Blackness, and exploring the ramifications of a Black identity in American society are the foundations she uses to build her stories. They invariably take you places no one else can reach in quite the same way or so memorably.
In Definition Theatre’s virtual performance of America v.2.1, the cast leaves its own indelible mark. Martasia Jones as Leigh brandishes a strength that only intensifies as the play develops. When she admonishes Donovan with the reminder that “leaders lead”, it telegraphs as a threat. Gilbert gives Jeffrey’s eventual metamorphosis the appearance of a rag doll morphing into a vengeful raptor; and Musoni turns Grant into the kind of controlled follower that can only engender a resigned sympathy. But it’s Donovan who travels down the most improbable path. Johnson’s thoughtful portrayal of his character intensifies the play’s ending. One that could be argued as being inevitable, but you still don’t see coming. Four people weigh the cost of survival in an unalterably warped world. The decisions they make are both relatable and horrific.
America v.2.1: The Sad Demise and Eventual Extinction of the American Negro
Definition Theatre
Now streaming at: https://www.definitiontheatre.org/america