In light of the George Zimmerman verdict, The New Black Fest commissioned six very diverse playwrights to write 10-minute plays on the topic of Trayvon Martin, race and/or privilege. Facing Our Truth's purpose is to incite serious discussion in our collective communities around these urgent issues.
The collection, Facing Our Truth: Ten Minute Plays on Trayvon, Race and Privilegeis comprised of the following plays:
THE BALLAD OF GEORGE ZIMMERMAN text by Dan O’Brien music by Quetzal Flores
A folk opera recreating the ten minutes leading to the murder of Trayvon Martin, The Ballad of George Zimmerman explores the mind of his killer.
COLORED by Winter Miller
Interactions between passengers on a subway ride escalate dangerously.
DRESSING by Mona Mansour & Tala Manassah
In Dressing, a short play in three parts, a mother teases her son over his attire just as he gets ready to leave for school. He pushes back playfully; they play this game all the time. Parts two and three follow this mother as she experiences an unimaginable loss, shedding light on the nature of the vulnerability of the physical self.
NIGHT VISION by Dominique Morisseau
Ayanna and Ezra witness a woman getting beaten on the street by a man in a hooded sweatshirt. After they diffuse the situation they return to their apartment to call the police. However, when they discover how their accounts of the attacker differ, both are left questioning the truth of what they saw.
NO MORE MONSTERS HERE by Marcus Gardley
No More Monsters Here is a satire about a young white female who visits a psychiatrist and gets diagnosed with "Negro-phobia": a fear of African American people. The psychiatrist tells her that the cure is for her to spend three days literally living in the body of a young African American male who lives in the hood. The end result is a revelation that will make you laugh, shock you and perhaps break your heart!
SOME OTHER KID by A. Rey Pamatmat
Three young people weigh both the potentially liberating privileges and the potentially deadly consequences of being just some other kid.