BLUE

 

When George Floyd died, I knew there would be a play. Then
January 6th happened and I knew what that play was.
I wrote BLUE as part of a conversation. A fundamental hypocrisy
lies at the heart of the American Experiment that prioritizes white
[straight cis male] bodies over black and brown bodies and a direct
line can be drawn from the authoritarian impulse to the present
state of policing as practiced in the United States.
We know that.
The January 6th insurrection was not an aberration. It was a logical
conclusion. It is bred of the same fascistic impulse to whitewash
history and erase Others by way of book bans, attacks on CRT,
abortion, gender-affirming care, and the like, drive the violence
visited daily on black and brown bodies by the very institution
whose alleged function is to serve them. We now know from the
murder of Tyre Nichols that black and brown people are neither
immune nor exempt.
My deepest thanks to the ridiculously and utterly brilliant Mssrs.
Matthews and Colella for saying yes, and to Julanne Chidi-Hill who
so searingly and indelibly originated the role of Parker in the world
premiere and throughout the play's development; to Betsy for
shepherding the birth this play by bringing us to Rogue Machine; to
Guillermo Cienfuegos John Flynn, and the rest of that incredible
team, thank you for giving us a home and for listening and hearing
with such open hearts. Thank you, Reamy, Mark, and Rebecca for
everything. As the US and western countries generally contend with
an emergent global majority, the current crisis will become only
more acute. Training is not the answer. Defunding the police is not
the answer.
We need a whole new model altogether.

June Carryl