It is difficult to imagine something we all take for granted just disappearing — but this is exactly what this weekend’s drama department show addresses. In Day of Absence, all of the black people in a sleepy southern town disappear, resulting in chaos and calamity as the citizens of said town realize just how important every culture is to society.
“Day of Absence is a complex piece and, due to its heightened style, it contributes potential controversy,” assistant director Lauren Jenkins said.
Day of Absence is a play done in a reverse minstrel style. Minstrel was a popular style of comedy in the 19th century that involved white actors in “black face” or with their faces painted black. These skits were extremely degrading and racist, portraying blacks as ignorant and ultimately ridiculous. Reverse minstrel involves black actors playing in “white face” — a provocative hint to the history of theater.
“Trying to break the barrier of what a minstrel show is and what is its ultimate purpose may be interesting to some people,” said Mylrick Lapointe, actor and publicity assistant for the show. “But I have found that it has been disturbing to others.” It is a performance style more likely to disturb than some others, especially given the history of the style itself and the open and masked ways in which reverse minstrel style examines racial stereotypes. Ultimately, Day of Absence is a satire performed to address issues and make a statement, while also remaining funny.
“To be able to remain realistic and yet funny was one of the hardest challenges,” Lapointe said. This dichotomy is a fundamental part of drama, to entertain without losing a sense of reality, but it is particularly difficult in comedy, especially within such blatant satire. The actors need to stay true to the entertainment value while staying equally true to the message and the mirror of reality.
With such a potential for controversy in the chosen style of the show, publicity has been difficult, Lapointe said. It isn’t just the show’s public image at stake, however, but the performances themselves. Any performer, be it in sports, music or drama, can confirm that atmosphere makes a big difference.
“I think that these responses will affect the show’s mood greatly,” Lapointe said. “There is a big difference when the crowd thinks that the satire is funny and when they think that it is not.” Understandably, a joke is only as funny as the laughter it receives.
What is particularly important to note in the viewing of this show, however, is the message. In Day of Absence, audience members are sure to see not only a play on racial stereotypes and an examination of race relations, but also a treatment of the importance of all cultures and institutions to overarching society.
As with most satire, messages often prompt more questions than they do answers, and Day of Absence will certainly demand that of its audience, with elements of truth that will require the audience members to question their own assumptions about culture and race and the integration of both into American society, especially in Southern towns.
“Day of Absence exposes folly and the harsh realities of bigotry that still exist today, while showcasing the aesthetic and beauty of black theatre,” Jenkins said.
Day of Absence will run today through Oct. 25, Oct. 28 to 31 and Nov. 1 at 8 p.m. in the Helms Theater.
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