Maister stages play on race, identity

Nigel Maister stages the first play of the Spring season for the International Theatre Program.

igel Maister, associate director of the International Theatre Program and senior lecturer in the Department of English, talks about his current production of Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom by Suzan-Lori Parks, premiering at the Todd Theatre on February 28.

What is the theme of Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom?

The play deals with notions of African-American identity and history, and how, in Parks's view, African-American identity was created--specifically how memory and history play into that. It also addresses notions of gender--the roles of women as nurturers, as disenfranchised.

It is a non-narrative, experimental, and satirical play that's slightly impressionistic, slightly absurd, and very poetic.

Why did you select it for the 2001-02 season? Do you try to represent a wide range of theatrical voices when selecting plays for each season?

Yes. I choose plays that are unpredictable and express a non-traditional voice and vision. Parks is a young African-American playwright, and, in recent years, the International Theatre Program has not staged a play, written by an African-American playwright, that addresses issues of race and identity. It's very important for people to know that not all plays have the same form, and this is a play with very different aesthetics.

Parks's career is very "hot" at the moment; she is really coming into her own as a playwright. In fact her most recent work is soon to be performed on Broadway. She is also the recipient of the MacArthur Foundation's "genius grant" for her work in American drama.

As a young African-American female, does Parks offer a unique perspective and voice for your audience?

Absolutely. She's very idiosyncratic, with a very identifiable voice. She uses language in a specific, interesting way and writes in a style that makes language very concrete. A lot of the dialogue seems to be almost a theatrical version of Ebonics, but it's not. Rather, Parks style is very oral; she writes the words just as she would have the actors speak them.

How does an all African-American cast reinforce the play's theme?

The actors, three women and two men, play both white and black characters from the pre-Civil War era to the contemporary era. It's very akin in style and theme to Bamboozled by Spike Lee, someone Parks worked with in the past. Where Bamboozled used the minstrel image to investigate notions of black identity, Imperceptible Mutabilities does the same thing, except it turns minstrelsy on its head by creating a kind of white minstrel.

Could the play be as effective with a racially diverse cast?

I think not. An original production had one white actor, and that didn't really make sense to me. I think it's written to be performed by African-Americans. Parks wrote three history-type plays, and this is one of them. It's almost a trilogy, though not linked in any obvious way.

What effect do you hope the performances will have on the audience?

I hope they will be entertained by it; I hope they will be made to think by it. It's not a preachy play; it doesn't have an overt political message. But it's definitely a play that will be provocative and challenge the audience in a compelling way.

Are you working on any upcoming productions?

I'm working on the second production of the semester, a famous and wonderful play by the Swiss dramatist Friedrich Durrenmatt called The Visit. It's from the '50s, and it's very funny, and also quite chilling and sad. We're planning to adapt it to be a celebration of the University and of Rochester.

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