Posted on Feb 18, 2023
How 2 Seattle productions tackle race, social justice, and the right to just be
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“This Bitter Earth” and “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window” are both playing this month in Seattle.
On one stage, a curtain opens as two men sit in their apartment.
“I find it hard to believe you’re not bothered by what you see around, when you watch the news, read the paper, leave your apartment,” says Neil, a white, Black Lives Matter activist to his boyfriend, a Black playwright named Jesse.
On another stage, in another theater, an editor named Sidney Brustein tells a reporter, “Above all else, keep your conscience to yourself. It’s the only form of compassion left.”
One of those plays, "This Bitter Earth," is modern, written in 2020. The other — "The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window" — was first performed in 1964.
On one stage, a curtain opens as two men sit in their apartment.
“I find it hard to believe you’re not bothered by what you see around, when you watch the news, read the paper, leave your apartment,” says Neil, a white, Black Lives Matter activist to his boyfriend, a Black playwright named Jesse.
On another stage, in another theater, an editor named Sidney Brustein tells a reporter, “Above all else, keep your conscience to yourself. It’s the only form of compassion left.”
One of those plays, "This Bitter Earth," is modern, written in 2020. The other — "The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window" — was first performed in 1964.
How 2 Seattle productions tackle race, social justice, and the right to just be
Posted from kuow.org
Racism
Theater
LGBTQ+
Seattle
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...Sidney Brustein, the main character of "The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window," asks a similar question. After taking part in committees, protests, and movements, he feels like nothing has changed.
That's because of how Sidney has chosen to participate, Holiday said.
"He's been doing it with a group of people that looked exactly like him, that believe in the same things as him."
Director Ryan Guzzo Purcell pointed out that Lorraine Hansberry, who wrote the play, was a card-carrying communist. She believed in the idea that liberation had to be collective.
"She was deeply skeptical of individual movements for recognition, because I think she believed that they would lead to, perhaps a new hierarchy, but still a hierarchy," Guzzo Purcell said.
"The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window" is playing at the Erickson Theatre until Feb. 25, and "This Bitter Earth" is playing at Seattle Public Theater through Feb. 19."
...Sidney Brustein, the main character of "The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window," asks a similar question. After taking part in committees, protests, and movements, he feels like nothing has changed.
That's because of how Sidney has chosen to participate, Holiday said.
"He's been doing it with a group of people that looked exactly like him, that believe in the same things as him."
Director Ryan Guzzo Purcell pointed out that Lorraine Hansberry, who wrote the play, was a card-carrying communist. She believed in the idea that liberation had to be collective.
"She was deeply skeptical of individual movements for recognition, because I think she believed that they would lead to, perhaps a new hierarchy, but still a hierarchy," Guzzo Purcell said.
"The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window" is playing at the Erickson Theatre until Feb. 25, and "This Bitter Earth" is playing at Seattle Public Theater through Feb. 19."
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