Photo courtesy Theatrical Tendencies
Theatrical Tendencies' ‘The Submission’
Christopher Orth and Jaleesa Joy in Theatrical Tendencies' ‘The Submission’
As a white writer, whenever I cover Black relevant subjects, I am very cognizant of the fact that I can never fully comprehend the American Black experience. The remedy is to find a Black voice to provide an accurate perspective to guide me. Theatrical Tendencies current production, The Submission, a comedy by Jeff Talbott, presents a similar dilemma but with an entirely different (and terrible) solution. In this case, playwright Danny fears his sure-hit play about an African American family’s efforts to escape the projects isn’t marketable because of a glaring incongruity: he is a gay, white, 27 year old Yale graduate. He contrives a Black sounding pen name, Shaleeha G’ntamobi, and hires Emilie, a Black actress, to pretend to be the author. Lies, betrayal and calamity ensue.
The 95-minute play with a cast of three men and one woman stars Christopher Orth as Danny and Jaleesa Joy as Emilie. Matthew Umstot plays Danny’s friend, Trevor, and Kevin Gadzalinski appears as Danny’s lover, Pete.
Theatrical Tendencies artistic director, and the play’s director, Mark Schuster, describes the selection of The Submission. “It’s unlike anything we’ve done at TT and anything I’ve directed. We’ve tackled some controversial subjects but this different. It’s a new kind of show,” Schuster explained. That “newness” is the awkward truth of racism in the gay community juxtaposed with the homophobia in the Black community. The resulting conflict between groups of oppressed people provides the setting. The production’s staging in the middle of Black History Month is obviously not a coincidence. Although written over a decade ago, Schuster admitted it was especially timely today even though it shouldn’t be.
“Danny’s defense of racism made me reevaluate how I look at things. And that’s what we want—to make people think. The mirror is held up”, Schuster said, adding, “the LGBTQ characters don’t come off that well. I want to like them, but it’s difficult. The audience needs to pay attention to the language.”
Viewer Discretion?
In fact, the play carriers an “Explicit Adult Language” and “Mature Subject Matter” warning for its carpet f-bombing and recoil inducing use of the other f-word and the n-word. The language, according to the playwright, is real. It’s a guy’s milieu, after all, and perhaps, Danny, as a product of privileged higher education, finds his artsy maleness by punctuating his speech with expletives. “We have to reevaluate different uses of words. Maybe the language helps the comedic effect”, Schuster suggested.
Jaleesa Joy spoke of her first reading of The Submission, “I thought, oh…Oh…OH!” describing the play as strenuous to work through for both the actors and the audience alike. “It’s much more intense than I expected but important, especially now. It presents the ‘My plight is worse’ competition between oppressed groups.” Yet, Joy noted her character Emilie is shocked that playwright Danny has gotten everything right about the Black experience. “He admits it just came out of him”, Joy said. Perhaps the message is despite all, whether LGBTQ or Black, oppression has a common denominator and a common emotional response.
Performing the role of Danny, Christopher Orth addressed his character as inadvertent villain saying, “he’s a rare vision of the realities of the gay community. We’re insular and we struggle with accepting others. Some of us can’t handle the diversity of trans, non-binary or bisexual. We need to adapt and learn,” Orth said, concluding “It’s an important piece for both communities to see”
The Submission runs Feb. 16-25 at Inspiration Studios, 1500 S. 73rd St., West Allis. Tickets and information can be found at theatricaltendencies.com.
