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REVIEW: A One-Act Jamboree At The Black Theatre Troupe Of Upstate New York
By Jess Hoffman
To close out their season, Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate New York is producing a collection of one-acts, playfully titled One Act Jamboree. The one common thread among these plays is that they showcase, in one way or another, the Black experience. Many of these plays are by emerging local playwrights, and BTTUNY has taken on a commendable challenge producing such an eclectic collection of works.
As with most one-act festivals, the show is a mixed bag. There is no shortage of talent among the cast, crew, and writers; but some of the pieces come together much more successfully than others. As a White person I may not be the most qualified to speak to “the Black experience,” but as a theater and literature expert I am all too familiar with the novice playwright’s desire to take on big ideas when they would have more success diving deeply into something smaller and more familiar that hints at other, larger things at play. Ten or Twenty minutes is not enough time to thoroughly interrogate race relations in modern America; it’s barely enough to thoroughly interrogate a single moment or person. It is therefore unsurprising that the most successful pieces in this show are those that endeavor to encapsulate a brief slice of life (such as one fateful night in a segregated hospital or an awkward encounter between a Black deliveryman and a concerned White man outside a luxury apartment building) or those that take a cheeky sketch-comedy approach to one aspect of life as a Black person (such as the absolutely stellar “Natural Hair Helpline”).
Before the lights even go down, this show starts out strong with some excellent pre-show music courtesy of sound designer Chad Reid. The funky, upbeat pre-show soundtrack seems to promise the audience that they are in for a good time. But when the show opens, it is with the off-putting “No God in the Streets” which is a slam-poetry-adjacent, interpretive-dance-like piece that tries to express too many broad ideas in too short a time–and does so in a way that neither introduces a thought that any member of the audience hasn’t already had nor manages to evoke any emotion that any member of the audience hasn’t already felt. This off-putting beginning is immediately followed by a more cohesive piece about an interracial couple going to their school’s first integrated prom. While this seems like an excellent moment that could shed light on larger issues, the Black teen character Keshawn spends most of that play waxing philosophical and bemoaning his station in life in a way that is unnatural, jejune, and annoying; ultimately this makes him hard to listen to, even when his ideas and feelings make perfect sense.
From there, we jump into what is more of an extended monologue than a play. But as the exceptionally talented Jocelyn Khoury tells the story of her brother’s premature birth in a segregated hospital, she takes the audience on a journey that evokes heartbreak and sympathy, and successfully touches on how the ripple-effects of segregation are still felt today (without having to lecture the audience about it, as the two previous plays were all too eager to do).
1 / 8
Scene from the One-Act Jamboree produced by the Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate New York in the Lauren and Harold Iselin Studio at Capital Repertory Theatre.
The fourth and fifth plays in the line-up finally bring in the energy that the lively pre-show music seemed to promise. “Nice Day” tells a humorous story about a delivery man struggling to get inside an apartment building to deliver groceries. Thanks to cleverly subverted expectations, a great ending, and very funny prop work with a carrot, “Nice Day” is a stand-out piece in this collection. “Wookies in the Wilderness” follows with what is probably the most compelling story of any of the one-acts, but it ultimately falls into the trap of trying to do too much in too little time. In the course of a two-man, one-act play, “Wookies in the Wilderness” tries to fit in backstory for both of its characters; an examination of emotional toll that a hate crime can have on surviving family and friends; a cultural critique of the way People of Color are represented in Science Fiction; and the overarching plot of one friend discovering another friend’s plan to carry out a revenge murder, grapple with the discovery, and decide whether or not to take part. I would love to see playwright Marcus Scott adapt “Wookies in the Wilderness” into a full length play so that all of his excellent ideas and well-written dialogue may have the time and attention they deserve; but as a one-act it is rushed and shallow.
After intermission, One Act Jamboree continues with a play about two former convicts at a dive bar discussing their place in the world and the unjust circumstances that led to their current lot in life. This play starts off strong with excellent stage presence from all its actors and some entertaining sass from Dawn Harris as Stella. But as Harris struggles with her lines and the other two actors begin monologuing to the audience rather than engaging with one another (despite their excellent chemistry when they do engage with one another) the intensity is lost and the play begins to drag.
One Act Jamboree ends on a high note with Kyora Wallace’s “Natural Hair Helpline,” a fun and energetic play about an employee at a call-in helpline for natural hair and a woman with particularly difficult hair in the midst of a hair emergency. Thanks in part to its script, but also to a talented cast and expert direction by Jean-Remy Monnay, “Natural Hair Helpline” is the strongest piece in this collection. If anyone is on the fence about whether or not to see One Act Jamboree I must recommend they come see the show if only to experience this truly excellent one-act play.
This collection of short playsis far from perfect, but its stand-out moments are well worth the ups and downs in quality that any collection of one-acts is bound to suffer. I was impressed with many of the playwrights showcased, many of the actors involved, and especially with Sheilah London-Miller, who handled the costumes, hair, makeup, sets, and props for the entire production. Anyone interested in Black theater, in local rising talent, or in the art of the one act play is encouraged to see One Act Jamboree and experience all of its high points and its problems for themselves.
Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate New York presents One Act Jamboree, featuring plays by Yetunde Babalola, Cris Eli Blak, Kathryn Grant, Matthew Sheridan, Marcus Scott, and Kyora Wallace; directed by Jean-Remy Monnay, Hettie Barnhill, Tony Pallone, Aaron Moore, and Hasson Harris Wilcher; runs from June 1-11, 2023, at the Rep, 251 North Pearl Street
Albany, NY 12207. Produced by Jean-Remy Monnay. Cast: Shannell West as Fula, Theo Rabii as Aham and Jill, Gabriel Fabian as Keshawn and Smokey, Aaliyah Al-Fuhaid as Martha, Jocelyn Khoury as Rita and Toya, Gregory Theodore Marsh as Black Man and Latrell, Chad Reid as White Man, Susan Katz as Old Woman, Luis Lowery as Bishop, Alvin Kershaw as Clive, Dawn Harris as Stella, Wisdom Johnson as Manager, and Earth O. Phoenix as Gia. Production Stage Manager: Jacqui Anscombe-Waring. Assistant Stage Managers: Q’ubilah Sales and Alexandra Walters. Lighting design by Maya Pomazal-Flanders. Sound design by Chad Reid. Lightboard operator: Willie David Short V. Costumes, hair and makeup, set decorations, and props by Sheilah London-Miller.
Performance dates are Thursday-Sunday, June 6-16. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday curtains are at 7:30pm and Sundays are at 4:00 pm. Tickets are $22.50; senior, military, and veteran tickets are $17.50; student tickets are $12. Runs approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes with a 10-minute intermission. Contains discussions of racism, incarceration, and hate crimes, and a gunshot. Recommended for ages 13+. Tickets are available online at https://attherep.org/, by phone at 518-346-6204, or at the door for any performance. For more information, visit https://www.blacktheatretroupeupstateny.org/, email [email protected], or call 518-833-2621.
#marcus scott#marcusscott#write marcus#writemarcus#black playwrights#theatre#theater#playwrights#playwright#black theatre#Wookiees in the Wilderness#BTTUNY#Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate New York#Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate NY#Capital Rep#Albany#Albany NY
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“If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like, open your eyes. It looks like the forced famine of 1.1 million innocents. It looks like thousands of children eating grass as their bodies consume themselves, while trucks of food are slowed and halted just miles away.” -Rep. Ocasio-Cortez
#Rep. Ocasio-Cortez#free palestine#freepalastine🇵🇸#palestine#genocide joe#video#free gaza#gaza strip#gaza genocide#gazaunderattack#gaza#no pride in genocide#genocide#ausgov#politas#auspol#tasgov#taspol#australia#fuck neoliberals#neoliberal capitalism#anthony albanese#albanese government#israel#israhell#class war#benjamin netanyahu#fuck netanyahu#netanyahu a criminal of war#bibi netanyahu
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Marty and Jakob are winning the 2024 Caps Halloween.
#Kind of a shocking lack of furry rep though. They usually have a couple of those.#Alexander Ovechkin#John Carlson#Tom Wilson#Aliaksei Protas#Jakob Chychrun#Matt Roy#Nic Dowd#Martin Fehervary#Charlie Lindgren#Trevor Van Riemsdyk#Dylan Strome#Alexander Alexeyev#Spencer Carbery#Caps Ensemble#Washington Capitals#Halloween Caps#Caps Halloween
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im actually so angry. im already donating and volunteering, the only thing i could do more is quit my job and focus on making queer art that isn't going to be censored by capitalism
#yall thought any rep was “rainbow capitalism”? be prepared for no more rep at all in the coming years#media is about to become extremly conservative
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🥺 Rozemyne worrying over whether Ferdinand wants something from her that she can’t give him in a relationship is so relatable.
#aroace quiltbag#ascendance of a bookworm#ascendance of a bookworm spoilers#like i know there is more to this story than potential queer rep#it explores classism and capitalism and imperialism deftly#and marriages in this universe are typically arranged for political reasons and rarely occur through romantic love#but my little aroace heart is starved of getting to see my experiences represented in media#and urano comes from an amatonormative background#plus everyone reads romantic intentions into her grand gestures so#relatable
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"Im not even sure anymore if we get to choose who our friends are" There is a part of me that resents you for making me a worse person than i want to be but i am inexplicably uncontrollably drawn to you. You make me a worse person which is the last thing i want yet i want you in every way. If i could leave i would. Maybe i can but i dont want to. I have fun with you. You challenge me and you captivate me and you push me and pull and run circles around me and it makes me feel like a younger man. For the price of being a worse person i get to feel truly, wholly alive. You are the blood that runs through my veins; vital, inseparable. I was reborn when i met you and you are the womb that haunts me. You are the one person on planet earth who knows me. I wish i could leave, move on and be the man im supposed to be but my heart is tied to yours in a gordian knot. There is a part of my soul that rests in yours, magnetic. For as long as i love you i cannot be better than i am. But maybe thats something i can learn to live with. Gregory House-- I think you're worth it.
#house md#james wilson#gregory house#hilson#johan being crazy about yaoi md#johan's mindpalace#Im crazy#like im tearing up#this scene is so romantic it genuinely makes me nauseous#the lowlight setting the lingering stares the soft little smile a dam thats finally broken#I need a 12 gauge bullet in the thigh#Please watch this scene screencaps do not do it near enough justice#do you know whats so genuinely actually sickening#its been months since i finished house md#and i have not watched a single show that has managed to fill even a quarter of the gaping bleeding hilson shaped hole in my heart#shows that have actual gay people actual representation and not a single one has managed to alter my brain chemistry the way hilson has#since day 1 episode 1#Like its actually nauseating a little its so over for me for the rest of my life#Like im actually never recovering#people say “they dont make xyz like they used to haha” But Guys they Genuinely dont#Im going through withdrawls#I need my yaoi cocaine so bad but my plug died 12 years ago and i cant fucking Move#House md capital of fatphobia homophobia transphobia early 2000s edgy humour outshining modern shows with actual rep like im sick#Its not even because i want to like i feel like there are worms in my brain. I feel like ratatoullie if the rat was evil#This is not what the stonewall riots were for#I feel like so nausous why couldnt i be crazy about an actual gay pairing like a normal gay person. Im gonna throwup#Why couldnt i like music and girls#Its not even that house md is objectively logically better than these shows like no. Im just crazy#Im so sick they make me so sick i feel like there are worms in my head. My head#Dont know when i will ever be onorlmal again. Sorr
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B33 < hey tiktok can we please stop drawing disorders as art
:33 < if its your disorder and youre represenyting yoursellf throughg art thats fine, but genuinely dont draw disorders based on how YOU think it would be like to live woth that disorder, amd how you think that disorder looks/feels like, because ican guarantee you youre probably wrong, and honestly it just feels belittling. idont want my disorder made into "silly art" that isnt representation at all. if soemone witt the disorders ihave make srt on their experiences, thats okay !! but someone who dosenh have that disorder and makes art off it ? youdont know how it actually feels like
#surprisingly not homestuck#dont know what to tag honestly#like im a system#and the bad rep we get is just so awful#people cvant even act normal about systems now#and seeing someone make art of MY disorders#when they never ONCE experienced it in their life just infuriates me#you arent struggling with that disorder#caps tw#tw capital letters#caps#caps cw#tw caps#cw caps#capital letters#spelling errors#<- just a heads up#and when they make art of disorders#they dont even put in the work to study ANYTHING about the disorder ☠️☠️‼️🙏#they google what the disorder is (like the definition) and thats it they make art out of it wjen they barely know wanyyhing about it#this could just be my opinion but yea#tw abelism#cw abelism#abelism#abelism tw#abelism cw
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is anyone else kind of bummed that we don’t get to see neve’s trans friends lol
#or maybe we do?? but so far i haven’t heard anything else past the scene with taash#like how invaluable would it be to see queer resistance fighters in the homophobic/transphobic capital of thedas#did they just use krem as The Trans Tevinter Rep and call it a day??#and also like to be able to see taash experience solidarity for the first time??#like damn what a missed opportunity#but am i shocked when minrathous has been whitewashed to the degree it has#which u literally cannot deny it has been absolutely whitewashed#the writers aren’t even invested in their own world building let alone good representation#taash is evidence of that with the whole ‘it’s qunari vs rivaini sorry that’s the way it is’ shit#anyway um if i’ve spoken too soon and we do get to see more of neve’s queer friends then i’ll backtrack but as of rn…. 😶#anyways.txt#jasmine plays datv#da4 spoilers
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These last few months have been shrouded in a deep depression. The Palestinian people have been the first thing that I think of in the morning, and the last thing I think of before going to bed every day. And in the time in between, if I’m thinking about the horrors that the Palestinian people are facing, I’m thinking about the exploitation of Congolese people for their land’s natural resources, the conflict in Sudan, or any of the various genocides currently taking place. I do not understand how people are proceeding like normal. When I drink my coffee and scroll Instagram in the morning, I see pictures of babies with their chest cavities blown open. When I’m on TikTok on my lunch break, I see videos of men digging for loved ones in rubble. When I’m at home for the evening, I watch a video of a family mourning their lost loved ones. How do people act normal when this is happening? When our tax dollars are funding genocide? When the country we live in was built on genocide? I have no interest in my hobbies. I don’t want to celebrate the holidays. All I can do is think about how colonialism is killing people and the planet. I know that we must fight through the pain to make change. And I know that my pain can’t even compare to the people who are experiencing this violence. But, fuck, it still hurts. I don’t have any solutions. I just wanted to express my grief and say that if you are feeling similarly, you’re not alone, and we are going to make change.
#from the river to the sea palestine will be free#free palestine#free gaza#free congo#free sudan#free tigray#free haiti#mental health#anti colonialism#anti capitalism#no Christmas spirit here#Christmas is canceled#call your reps
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EDIT: List can be found here
Will anybody be interested if I made a list of adult transmasc and Nonbinary/transneutral main/major characters in adult fantasy and Science Books.
Because I'm legit sick of the infantilisation both within and outside the community. Why is so much of the NB and transmasc rep children 😭.
Even outside of the miniscule rep Even less of it are grown adult main characters. None of that side character's love interest is a trans dude business, or a they/them appears for one page and is never seen again.
Anyway I've got a handful of characters in books I've read/on my TBR and I want to share them with others looking for this kind of rep.
#adult fantasy#adult science fiction#adult sci-fi#lgbtq#queer representation#trans#transmasc#nonbinary#transneutral#also I'm not interested in romance so a NB mc in a capital R fantasy romance i don't give. shit about that guff lol#And why are so many grown ass trans(or queer in general) adults so invested in YA#Like Gawd damn all the rep shouldn't regulated to kids books.#by adult the characters need to be 20s and above#because if i used the 18/19 year old legal adult excuse way too much YA BS will clog the list lol#adult sff#books
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not to be that person bc i really dont care about brand deals and all that but also the fact chan hasnt been snapped up as an ambassador is crazy to me bc you know bro would make the most highly curated cool boy aesthetic posts on his ig and is also a known charmer so like he'd definitely schmooze with the best of em at any fancy event......
#yk its like one of those things where most these fashion houses are scummy in one way or another#and fuck capitalism and everything but also the fact it hasnt happened is just so like you people in these positions at fashion houses#are so dumb. like if i was the givenchy rep deal maker whatever i'd have been like i'll write the contract in my own blood if we get him
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TREVOR VAN RIEMSDYK ✧ 231220 Yeah, I think we're a veteran group that knows how to make those little plays and see games through. Obviously that's not how we want to play with a lead, we don't wanna just hang on for dear life, but sometimes that happens, and it's good to see we get some great goaltending and stuff like that, that always helps.
#trevor van riemsdyk#capitals#washington capitals#nhl#hockey#meg.caps#meg.gif#meg.all#he is so boyfriend shaped. not mine but like. in general.#america's boyfriend.#etc.#just one of those guys with a really good rep around the industry. that doesn't really mean anything but ig it's better than the opposite!
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i reread buy back the secrets whenever i need a pick me up it’s like the holy grail i can’t wait for the next chapter<3
!! i’m so happy it works as a pick me up for you! i know it’s been a longer wait for chapter 4 than it was for the other chapters but i have the gdoc open every day and tim is once again experiencing Situations 💪🌱💕
here is a little timkon text exchange to tide you over!
#tim (lying on a medbay cot after [redacted] running on pain and no sleep): finally time to share my queer killer croc analysis#kon (best friends with robin): tim drake is the weirdest guy i’ve ever met. i’m enthralled.#killer croc queer icon courtesy of fey who wanted more killer croc rep#also tim does deliberately change his texting/capitalization style when switching between vigilante and civilian modes#his brain is whirring like an overheating laptop at all times#timkon#asks#my fic
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ma’am what doeS thiS mean
#R ssss?? 🐍#the letter capitalization like in the olden days 🥺#taylor swift#swiftie#taylor.txt#reputation tv#rep tv#taylors version#taylurking#clownelia street
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PINK™️ having a butchfemme couple all over their home page was not something i expected.
#how does PINK have more butch rep than 99% of tv and film#i heard the sweats with PINK across the ass are back so i went to check and saw lesbians .#boo rainbow capitalism but that pajama set is cute
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aro mugs found at home goods 🖤🩶🤍💚💚
#aromanitc#aro#pride#lgbtq#home goods#rare aro rep#rainbow capitalism is actually okay when it’s my genre of rainbow
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