A quarterly play or musical discussion group devoted to exploring works by artists who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled, and all marginalized genders.
Our 2024 TRL programming continues to deconstruct the Western canon with engaging works focused on distinct categories.
Quarter Two: White Saviorism, White Audacity
Off-White; or the Arab House Party Play by Alyssa Haddad-Chin
Polar Bears, Black Boys, and Prairie Fringed Orchids by Vincent Terrell Durham
Date: Thursday, June 6th, 2024
Time: 7:30-9:30pm CST
(5:30-7:30 PST/6:30-8:30 MST/8:30-10:30 EST)
Price: FREE*
*This is a Community Event so it is free and open to all. However, if you would like to make a donation to help cover the costs of paying our actors & special guests, that would be greatly appreciated. Suggested Donation $5.
Synopses: Off-White… — Taking place post-9/11 in the 2000s, this play follows Leila, a mixed race Arab-American teen who throws her first house party in her all white suburban neighborhood.
Polar Bears… —Inspired by his adoptive grandfathers, August Wilson and Norman Lear, Vincent Terrell Durham has penned the new play Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids. With the perfect blend of wit, humor, and pathos, Wilson and Lear invited audiences to sit back and eavesdrop on the human condition and the complexities of the times. Playwright Vincent Terrell Durham invites you to do the same by way of a last-minute cocktail party hosted by a well-intentioned white couple in their recently renovated Harlem brownstone. With little input from her trauma surgeon husband Peter Castle, socially and environmentally conscious Molly Castle has invited an array of Harlem neighbors over for cocktails. The guests are Jaquan Wallace a Black Lives Matter activist; Jaquan's plus one; Shameka a businesswoman, and author; and Rita Dupree a single mother of a slain 12-year-old black boy. The cocktail conversations quickly reveal the various personalities gathered around the bar. Emotional debates ranging from under-weight polar bears, un-flushed toilets, saving the planet, gentrification, racial identity, and how best to protect the lives of black boys reveal how complex and varied the American experience can be. A near tragedy brings them all together, while another quickly reminds us of the times we find ourselves.
Plays: Off-White… can be found on NPX here. Polar Bears… can be found on NPX here. Please contact us if you have any further questions.
Discussion format: Actors will be reading scenes from the play and/or we will listen to select songs to kick off our discussion. This will provide a jumping off point as well as some context for people who are unable to read it ahead of time. The Thumbprint Team will be facilitating an open conversation where we hope that people will feel confident to bring their thoughts and experiences to the discussion. Additional materials will be provided to you in our Welcome Packet to dig in further to the study of this work, if you so choose to use them.
You do not need to have read the material beforehand to participate.