The Black Lab Theatre’s current production, The Submission by Jeff Talbott, shows that prejudice isn’t all black and white; it comes in a multitude of grays. Directed by Jordan Jaffe, the show chronicles the adventures of a struggling playwright who pens an uplifting drama about an African-American family trying to get out of the housing projects. Happily, the play gets accepted for staging at a prestigious festival. Unhappily, although the winning entry was submitted under the pen name of a black woman, one Shaleeha G’ntamobi, the person who crafted it is actually a white gay guy named Danny. Faced with having to produce G’ntamobi for the festival judges, Danny hires an actress, Emilie, to impersonate the imagined playwright and be his voice for the all-important rehearsal process. Emilie takes to her role well, perhaps a little too well. Danny desperately sends her text messages and e-mails her instructions, but she disregards them all as she embraces her role as creator. Danny’s forced to stand on the sidelines and watch her take credit for his work. As the two struggle with what’s ”yours” (his play) and what’s ”mine” (her culture), Talbott unmasks unexpected undercurrents of prejudice.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Starts: Jan. 11. Continues through Jan. 27, 2013
This article appears in Jun 14-20, 2012.
