Recommended: 'Rodney King'

What importance is there for a kid from the ghetto to learn about Rodney King?  This was one of the questions raised at a Q&A after a performance of "Rodney King" that I saw last month.  Indeed, though, why should anyone care to learn about who Rodney King was?

Although, I don't believe writer/actor Roger Guenveur Smith was asking himself this when he started to create his latest one-man show, he certainly did get into that question.

In the play, he tells the story--in as much details as he can--about what happened that infamous night when Rodney King was brutally beaten by four LAPD officers, whose subsequent acquittal--after being caught on tape--sparked the 1992 L.A. Rebellion.  (Also known as the "Rodney King Riots" by some people in the media--even though Rodney King didn't riot; all he did was survive "the baddest ass-whopping in history"). 

But, Smith also gets into what was going on in the community prior to the King incident--all the injustice and systematic oppression that Black people in South Los Angeles had been facing for decades.  (For instance, the story of Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old girl who was unlawfully shot and killed by a Korean store owner--which occurred just weeks after the videotaped beating of King).

In a recent interview with Michael Slate on KPFK, Slate told Smith, "One of the things that happened with Rodney King from the moment he was targeted and beaten, the dehumanization...They robbed him of his humanity when they beat him--they tried to beat him to death; they robbed him of his humanity when they made him into this icon that he wasn't; and then other people robbed him of it too when they continued, all the way up through the end of his life, the struggle over, is he a hero? Is he a victim?...He was Rodney King.  He was a human being that was thrust unto the stage of history in a way that he never expected and didn't want, and then had to deal with the repercussions of that the rest of his life.  And I thought you did a really wonderful job in capturing that humanity."

Indeed, what can be most appreciated by this performance is the artists' ability to treat the subject with respect as he helps us explore the ills of society.  Smith does not put King on a pedestal as some kind of hero or idol because he wasn't any of those.  He was just a human being that--by way of accident--got caught put up on the national spotlight.  Most importantly, we are reminded that he was not unlike the many human beings in South Los Angeles today that continue to deal brutality by the LAPD.

"Rodney King" will return for a limited engagement, (only seven performances), from September 20-29, 2012 at the Bootleg Theater.  Please, check it out!

Recommended: 'Short Eyes' at the LATC

Below is part of statement from Julian Acosta, Artistic Director of the Urban Theatre Movement, used to present the extended run of, Short Eyes, written by Miguel Piñero and currently playing at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. (General $30; Students/Seniors $20; Groups 10+ $20; $10 Thursday).

Although it takes place in a House of Detention that is a living breathing character in the dramatic action, Short Eyes is not about prison. Although a character is accused of child molestation, Short Eyes is not about molestation. Although the characters are all either incarcerated or work for the institution, Short Eyes is not about guards and convicts. . .

Of the few plays I've seen in my life, this one was the most intense. I know for sure that many people in the audience felt the same. One audience member left during the play because the language was very descriptive; and I could hear someone in back of me crying. All this goes to the show all the raw reality and emotion that Piñero was able to capture in his play--and it also shows how real the actors made the characters seem. Stand-out performances include Chris D' Annunzio who played the main guard, Mr. Nett, Matthew Jaeger who played Clark, and David Santana who played Juan.

This was--and still is--a very controversial play, and it won the New York Critics Circle Award and Obie Award for "Best Play of the Year" back in 1974. But this play has not had a formal production on the West Coast in 10 years, so people should take advantage of this extended run that ends March 11, 2012. (It had its first sold-out run at the end of last year).

The questions that this play raises are about justice, fair trials, "guilty until proven innocent," and revenge. It is very well crafted by all the people involved and very much worth seeing. So, go!

Last week for "A Weekend with Pablo Picasso"

This weekend is your last chance (in L.A.) to see Herbert Siguenza's one-man play, "A Weekend with Pablo Picasso."

Check out the following interview segment that the actor/playwright did with Mark Bly:

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Picasso’s relationship to 20th century political movements was complex and in your play you explore that struggle. Can you characterize that epic “tug and pull” between art and politics that manifested itself in Picasso’s work?

Picasso’s long-time friend Jaime Sabartes said that, “Picasso is the most apolitical person I know.” I think to a certain degree it was true. Even though Picasso was a member of the French Communist Party and contributed to many leftist causes, he wasn’t politically or physically involved. He was sort of a Communist from afar. As long as he could paint what he wanted in freedom, he was content being in the Party for idealistic reasons. He was an artist first and foremost and an activist second. I have struggled with that “tug and pull” in my own life as a Chicano/Latino actor-activist. At one point you have to decide what you were meant to do in this life, you know? Are you an artist or a politician? Picasso remained free and true to his style, he never succumbed to the pressures of the Party to paint in a social realist manner. I believe theatre that is didactic and pounds you over the head is the worst kind of theatre and does not accomplish what it wants to do in the first place: make people think. If art does the thinking for you, what’s the use? That’s why Guernica is so amazingly powerful and eternal. It’s politically charged but aesthetically transcendental.

During the Cold War, Picasso did not fan the fire of nuclear destruction but rather was a global peace campaigner and contributed art and financial donations to many peace organizations and social causes. In fact, the iconography of the Peace Movement – the doves, flowers, children that are used today – was first created by Picasso in the late ‘50s! Picasso was a Humanist that just happened to be a Communist. We are lucky because Guernica, the peace dove, the hands holding flowers were created as if a child had drawn them and that is why it has lasted so long because it connects with our inner child full of joy, happiness and hope.
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What the play shows, and is mentioned above, is that Picasso joined the Communist Party, but mostly based on stand, and as long as the Party did not "mess with him" when it came to his art, or art form, he went along with the Party even when he personally felt that the Party was taking wrong positions. This is a very important lesson to learn from when it comes to how artists should relate to revolutionary vanguard forces now, but especially in a future socialist society. That is to say, they should not just follow leadership blindly. (A true revolutionary communist organization will also, always, find ways to get the people they work with to ask questions).

Anyway, Siguenza is an amazing actor and this play is very funny, political and enjoyable, so you should all check it out at the L.A. Theater Center while you still can! http://thelatc.org/