Leave it to Left Edge Theatre to tackle the massively complex, challenging social experiment that is the astounding Jackie Sibblies Drury play We Are Proud to Present… A sincere “Bravo” to this artistic effort, led by director Skylar Evans, and an ensemble cast of very familiar faces. The show runs at The California in Santa Rosa through March 8. One would be missing out if they pass over the opportunity to attend a performance of this production.
Drury, a Pulitzer Prize-winning African American playwright, has developed an intense, meta piece of art that will leave one shaken. This isn’t a typical theatrical experience. Its intended effect is to confront, expose and pummel the audience like a tidal wave.
Left Edge has long set the standard for our community to showcase works that speak directly to the human condition and that ask us to confront ourselves. This story asks the same of its actors, themselves playing actors who are workshopping their “presentation,” about an obscure genocide of the Herero peoples of Namibia by the colonizing Germans in the years 1884-1915.
The actors within Proud undergo a journey of self-discovery through the improvisation, frequent debates and confrontations they encounter in the artistic process of bringing their “presentation” to life. And the script is an extraordinary feat of deconstructing the actor’s process, while revealing the person beneath the artist.
Using kitschy props, movement, dance, song, pantomiming, puppetry and drumming, each actor falls into scene immersion like they’re in a trance. This play makes strong demands of its performers, and Evans has a cast that seems eager to meet those expectations.
Each actor has specific moments of brilliance, with Isiah Carter and Thomas Peterson being the most consistent, grounded and truthful to the proceedings. Sam Minnifield sneaks up and turns in some of their best work to date. Nate Musser displays his continued skills as a character actor. Maddi Scarborough excels in a hilarious sequence while creating her character’s backstory, and Lexus Fletcher shines as the dynamic and often frustrated leader of the ensemble.
In the middle of a theater scene that tends to lean towards safe and classic in keeping its audiences comfortable, this company continues to lead the charge in producing relevant, meaningful works that ask more of its audience than just sitting back in their chairs.
It encourages them to participate in the crucial dialogue about how to be better humans. Left Edge Theatre’s ‘We are Proud to Present…’ runs through March 8 at The California Theatre, 528 7th St., Santa Rosa. Wed–Sat, 7:30pm; Sat & Sun, 1pm. $22–$44. 707.664.7529. leftedgetheatre.com.
