Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s multi-Tony Award Winning Play
I can point out so many things about San Diego. The culinary scene aside, the theatre scene and the vibrant theatre community in this town have continued to go strong despite all the intended obstacles from the outside world that clearly does not understand (nor care) about the power of the arts. Today, specifically, the performing arts.
It is also remarkable that in South California, theatre companies are producing Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s work in parallel with New York and Chicago. Last year, Onstage Playhouse brought us Gloria. A chilling piece about office life and mental health. Now, the Old Globe opened its theatre year with Appropriate not even a year after its three Tony Award win. And it is well-known that everything is bigger at The Globe.
The plot is set in Arkansas, at the Lafayette family estate, a former plantation- where three siblings aim to sort out the property and its belongings after their father’s death. Toni (Maggie Lacey), the oldest sister, has been at the house for a week organizing a sale along with her son Rhys (Daniel Dale). They’re waiting for the second oldest, Bo (Steve Kazee), his wife Rachael (Sarah Stiles), and their two kids, Cassie (Serena Parrish) and Ainsley (Christopher Smyres in the performance I saw). Franz (Daniel Petzold) is what we call in Mexico, the pilón sibling who also arrives with his girlfriend, River (Brynn Gauthier). Like 98% of family gatherings, especially when a death is involved, tensions start brewing with he said/she said arguments that take a back seat after an unexpected relic is found amongst the hoard.
The family setting was painfully relatable, which means the writing is good. Jacobs-Jenkins combines different aspects like family, relationships, and upbringing with a thick side dressing of deep-rooted racism and unconscious bias. Each fits just right in its own cubby. Another interesting and fascinating aspect of this piece, as artistic director Barry Edelstein points out in the program welcome letter, “Jacobs-Jenkins is Black, yet he’s created a story about a white family. He has spoken about his deliberate choice to emulate giant Black writers such as James Baldwin and Zora Neale Hurston, who have written about white family life from their perspectives. In doing so, Jacobs-Jenkins appropriates this dramaturgy and shapes it to serve a new set of ends. The result is striking.” Branden Jacobs-Jenkins flips the narrative with pertinent and clever jabs in a culture where space has been filled and sequestered.
There are funny and shocking moments, making this a delicious experience at the theatre. It has to be said that among the stars of this production is San Diego’s own Arnel Sancianco’s stunning scenic design of the Lafayette home, very Tara-Gone with the Wind, south, historic, big, and creepy. I wonder if it was inspired by the Ohara family estate… that is the beauty of theatre, all the mental references that pop up when watching a play. Alan C. Edwards’s lighting design highlighted the already tense and shocking moments and gave those visual periods in various scenes that needed space.
Cicadas are natural to the south, and Curtis Craig’s sound design emphasized that by gifting the production an essential, chill-provoking sound. A curious fact, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins wore a cicada brooch at the Tony Awards last year.
Steve H. Broadnax III directed a well-rounded cast that kept audiences engaged and holding on. The direction is precise and hits the marks, combining a little bit of everything like in-law dynamics that had hefty monologues, each delivered flawlessly by Maggie Lacey, Sarah Stiles, and Brynn Gauthier with its intermittent sprinkles of comedic and or shocking relief by Daniel Dale, Serena Parrish, and Christopher Smyres.
The musical Once is one of my favorites (currently showing at LAMBS -plug). It was exciting to see Steve Kazee, who originated the role of Guy on Broadway and won the Tony for it, in a different histrionic light where he delivered an intense and frustrated Bo along with Daniel Petzold as little bro Franz who invited the audience into his puzzled mind as well as his aha moments and captured an accurate sibling dynamic through different upbringing views in which Maggie Lacey as Toni, gave deep sigh provoking lines that also served as food for thought. The playwriting harvests complex, multi-layered characters that were rightfully portrayed by each actor, adding their own style and essence.
Again, when budgets and grants are being significantly cut, it is great to see more prominent companies like The Globe put their tools to good use with works like this that make room for question, shock, and discomfort, especially for their subscriber base. It is terrific.
Special mention to Norman Anthony Small, production stage manager, and assistant stage manager Marie Jahelka for the titanic task of cueing not only the usual “play settings” but a fantastic array of special effects, and I will leave it there.
Currently playing until February 23. For information on performance times and ticket prices, click here.
And remember, theatre is not expensive when gifting yourself. There is always a way to find good seats at a price that fits every wallet.
