By Jay Irwin
Dear Readers, today I want to talk to you about one of the most exciting companies in town and their latest show, The Williams Project’s [now The Feast’s] “A Bright Room Called Day” by Tony Kushner. Specifically, I want to focus on three aspects of why they and their current show are so exciting and by the end I expect one if not all three aspects will entice you to catch this one, or at least I hope so.
First let’s talk about the play. Kushner’s most known for his masterwork “Angels in America”. So many of his other works grow pale in that looming shadow. In “A Bright Room Called Day” he focuses on what he sees as the correlation between the rise of the fascist regime in Germany with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party and Ronald Regan and the Republican Party in that era. In the story we focus on two time periods, 1932-1933 in Germany where Agnes (Lateefah Holder), a struggling actress, and her leftist friends, Vealtninc (Nick Edwards), a filmmaker, Paulinka (Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako), another actress though much more successful, Gregor (Grant Chapman), a homosexual, and Annabella (Dedra D. Woods) an artist, struggle to make their art and make their world a better place in the face of tyranny. On the other side we see Zillah (Elise LeBreton) in the 80’s as she puts together a video letter for President Regan showing off the similarities to the goings on in the 30’s and the 80’s. But the thing is, although they never actually say his name or mention the goings on now (Zillah in her presentation does everything but) this production points out the rising fascist regime in our own country today with Trump making this a fascinating look at not only how history continues to repeat itself but, with Agnes and her friends, spotlighting the various types of “resistors” and how those types haven’t changed much either.