Cori Zaragoza | SDV&V Contributing Writer
On December 5th and 6th, 2020, Common Ground Theater virtually premiered its monthly series of readings focused on “Uplifting Black Voices”. The series switches focus each month—this month was centered on telling stories inspired and written by black men. Each reading was directed by Yolanda Franklin and presented online over Zoom and Facebook.
Playwright Robert Alexander wrote the first day’s program: “Speaking Truth to Power”. The piece centered around three roommates, two black and one white, as they navigate the highs and lows of 2020. As they shelter-in-place, the roommates find themselves discussing and learning about racial issues and police brutality after the murder of George Floyd.
On the process of the piece’s creation, Alexander had this to say: “The Black Lives protests that have been taking place and continue to take place made me want to write something about that…the play kind of wrote itself. It was kind of like I was having a fever dream listening to CNN and MSNBC…all the news reports about the struggles that were taking place in the streets with the protestors.”
Day two featured two readings written by playwright Cris Eli Bank. Bank’s pieces were intimate and focused around conversations between two people. In “Burden of Proof”, a husband and wife are at odds when the wife, a lawyer, accepts a case defending a white supremacist. The play explored themes of morality and justice, and the compromises that black people are often forced to make in the face of a racist world.
The second piece, “Boy”, focused on a difficult conversation between a father and son. Feeling that his son is being dishonest with him, a father questions what his child is up to and expects the worst. Instead, he is confronted with something completely different: the realization that his son is gay. What follows is a tender and raw moment between father and son, ending with the father’s acceptance.
When asked about inspiration, playwright Bank answered “The stories I enjoy telling are the stories about life and the stories about regular people and the kind of people that I grew up around, the kind of people who are my peers.”
Ending the second day of Common Ground Theater’s programming, Bank expressed hope that the virtual medium of theater will inspire and continue on the telling of stories; “Tell your story. And if no one gives you the table to tell those stories, get a hammer and nail and build your own damn table.”
