By Edward Henderson
The saying ‘art reflects life’ stands true even when it’s being taken away by the hands of police officers. Actor, director and playwright Keith A. Wallace is using his talents as a performer and his passion for social justice to deliver messages to the public in an artistic form in hopes to stir audience’s hearts towards social change.
Wallace was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. His love for the theater was birthed during a trip to a play with his mother when he was nine years old.
“I remember going to see this play and being astonished and amazed of what was happening,” said Wallace. “I wasn’t prepared for what I was walking into. I saw the actors and remember how that experience made me feel. I fell in love with the theater at that moment.”
Wallace would go on to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta before eventually making his way to San Diego to attend graduate school at UCSD in 2013 for acting and theater training.The further he delved into his education and training, Wallace became more interested in the writing and directing aspects of theater.
“As an actor, sometimes you have very little agency because they are primarily interpretive artists. When they come into a performance, everything else is already determined. I became interested in shaping narratives.”
While teaching a class at Point Loma Nazarene University, he birthed the term ‘Actorvist’ blending together the terms actor and activist to express the greater purpose in his craft. Much of his art and expression are centered around social justice, using the power of his platform to make change in people’s hearts and minds.
His first major expression of ‘actorvism’ came in 2014. Fueled by the anger and emotion behind Michael Brown’s murder, Wallace used his artistic acumen and passion to stage a silent protest in downtown Philadelphia at Love Park. He recreated the scene of Brown’s murder in front of the famous Love mural in the park, laying on the ground wearing a shirt with gunshot holes and a baseball cap in his hand for an hour.
His friends passed out two sided flyers with Wallace’s background and why he was staging the protest along with information from the ACLU on the back detailing civilian rights while dealing with police. Tourists who frequent the area were still taking pictures around the structure and images from the protest went viral. In the aftermath, Wallace received many interview requests and felt like he needed to prepare himself to speak with confidence and authority on the subject of police violence.
“Everything I’m feeling and the information I have is self taught. It came from a sense of responsibility and obligation to my community. I always had a heart towards community work. I see myself as a content creator. Being at the table about of what kind of conversations are being had about things happening in society.”
Wallace has teamed up with La Jolla Playhouse to deliver his one man show that is a clear reflection of his ‘activism’.
‘The Bitter Game’ is a play focusing on excessive police force. It’s based in Philadelphia and is centered on a young man interacting with his mom, the neighborhood where he grows up and the activity there. He goes on a ride through his neighborhood and the audience is left in the proverbial ‘driver’s seat’ to get a deeper look at what it’s like to be a black or brown man or woman in this country interacting with law enforcement.
“For people living outside of the African American experience, I hope this play equips them with tools and competence to let them know the burden of ally-ship is not on the oppressed. For people who see their experience reflected in this play, I hope they know that their experience is acknowledged.”
After the play, Wallace plans to have a ‘talk back’ with people in the audience who have different opinions about the topic of police violence and have a discourse about how to create solutions based on what they just saw in the performance. In the future, Wallace looks to tour the play across the nation and hopefully have it used in officer training on cultural sensitivity.
“I hope people leave energized and realizing police brutality is an issue. We can do something about it and here are the tools to affect some change.”
‘The Bitter Game’ runs October 4-9 at Wrtierz Block, a graffiti park in Southeast San Diego on 5010 Market St. Click here for show times and ticket information.
