Philana Omorotionmwan
It’s kind of easy to become blind to the steady march of history. As a heterosexual middle class white man, it can feel like the march towards social equality hasn’t ever had any major stumbles. Everything’s better now than it was 50 years ago, right? So maybe it’ll be better 50 years from now? Maybe more? Playwright Philana Omorotionmwan explores what happens if things get REALLY bad in 2083 in her dystopian drama Before Evening Comes. In her nightmare, black boys are seen as a threat to public safety, so, “they are forced to undergo a government-mandated surgery that leaves them crippled.” The story focusses on one mother trying to keep her sons off the operating table. Sounds interesting. It occurs to me that so much classic dystopian fiction has come from...middle class white men. This one’s not. Could be interesting seeing it from a different perspective.
The staged reading of Before Evening Comes runs Sep. 10 - 11 at the Broadway Theatre Center, Sep. 12 at CORE/El Centro and Sep. 13 at Juneau Park. For times and more information, visit Renaissance Theaterworks onlie.
