A-A-America
A-A-AMERICA
Edward Bond (Playwright)
Christine Young (Director)
Produced by Crowded Fire Theater Company
March – April, 2003 – American Premiere
A dark Vaudevillian tale about America’s racial past.
Cast: Michael Brusasco (Uncle Sam/Stage Hand 1); Linda Jones
(Grandma/Helen Kroll); Algin Ford* (Paul); Sara Betts (Lady 1/Clown); Michele
Leavy (Lady 2/Stagehand 2); Gene Thompson (Skinner); Cassie Beck (Greta Knoll);
Jeremiah Hill (Fred); Richard Bolster (Ralph)
* Members, Actors' Equity
Artistic Team: Pegeen McGhan (Set Design); Jamie Mulligan (Lighting Design); Jocelyn Leiser (Costume Design); Paul Lancour (Sound Design); Joshua Raoul Brody Composer); Paul Jennings (Fight Choreographer); Laura Derosier (Movement Choreographer); Barney Jones (Musical Director); Linda Jones (Vocal Coach); Mollena Williams (Dramaturg); Emily Ehrlich Inget (Stage Manager); Robert Martinez (Asst. Director); Beth Powell (ASM); Chris Killion (Technical Director); Jarrod Fischer (Graphic Designer)
Director’s Note
“You cannot have your freedom at anyone else’s expense. Freedom is indivisible.” – Edward Bond
These are strange times. We do not know whether to be angry or afraid. We feel the urge to do something, but do not know exactly what to do. Everyday we pick up the paper, talk to our neighbors, and shake our heads at the decisions being made in our names. We see the danger as being outside ourselves. For some, it lurks out in the world, in secret places where our enemies gather to plot our demise. For others, it beams nightly into our living rooms, through the eyes of our politicians as they act to promote their distorted self-interests. How many of us see the danger in ourselves? How many of us believe that we share some responsibility for the mess we’re in, for the mayhem that seems about to be unleashed on the world?
At a peace march in January, I was amazed by the incredible variety of people marching and by the cornucopia of engaging and witty signs. One sign particularly grabbed me:
“In a democratic society, some are guilty, all are responsible.”
How often do I blame others for the state that my society and my world are in? How often do I tell myself that I’m not part of the problem – I’m not racist, homophobic, a war-mongerer. I’m just living my life. My ordinary, middle-class, American life. And everyday, as I live it, I am supporting injustice – with my choices, with my dollars, with my poor memory, and with my silence. I agree with Edward Bond – a society based on injustice always ends in catastrophe and violence. In order to save our society and ourselves, we must dig deep under the rock that is America and get real about our roots – about the fear, greed, and oppression that this country was built on – and which still permeate every layer of our social, political, and economic life.
Art magnetizes the heart toward what is true. This play reminds us of the complex truth of our own history, and the fact that in this diverse nation our fates as people are inextricably linked. The experience this play offers isn’t comfortable, but it is powerful. I hope it will encourage us to embrace the potential of being responsible, and to take whatever action we can to build a world where peace and justice thrive.
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