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CurtainUp The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features,
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A CurtainUp Connecticut Review
Good Faith: Four Chats About Race and the New Haven Fire Department
The issues in the New Haven case revolve around what the city did with the results of a promotion exam. Instead of awarding advancement to the high scorers— all white or Hispanic, no blacks— the city, concerned that promoting only white men would cause problems, refused to certify the list, prompting legal action. The case, labeled Ricci v. DeStefano for Frank Ricci, one of the white firefighters, and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, ended up in the Supreme Court, which found in favor of the plaintiffs. Commissioned by Yale Rep, Karen Hartman used interviews and court transcripts to build her play. Inserting herself into the play as the Writer (Laura Heisler), she starts with a Burmese quotation: "The heart of another is one place we can never go." One of the work's many problems starts here since Hartman rarely gets near her characters' hearts. They talk a lot but reveal little about themselves. A series of scenes subject us to a lecture on fire fighting techniques, to a heated exchange between two firefighters, Mike (Billy Eugene Jones) and Tyrone (Rob Demery), to a diatribe by Karen (Rene Augesen), the lawyer who argued the case before the Supreme Court, plus a final scene among Mike, Tyrone and Frank Ricci (Ian Bedford), the captain, later union head, who started it all. Not content with rehashing legal and social complications, Hartman includes references to Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, James Baldwin, Black Lives Matter and Planned Parenthood (don't ask), among many others. Her dialogue runs from "Institutional racism cannot be masked by the language of socioeconomic disparity" to the more naturalistic, "I'm not living high on the hog, you know. I got the kids, I'm keeping them busy, different activities. I'm doing what I can." More of the latter and less of the former would have been appreciated. In truth, these characters are more mouthpieces than anything else. Only occasionally does something approaching humanity appear. At one point, policemen are compared with firemen. The former "take" while the latter "save." It's a telling point, involving our actually caring about these first responders who risk their lives. The estimable director Kenny Leon, cannot and does not do much with the material he's been handed. There's a lot of sitting around, little humor, less reality, which is ironic since it's all based on fact. The cast attacks its roles with fervor. But there's little life here and audiences might do better reading the program's summary of the case or taking its quiz with such questions as "How many fire stations are there in the city of New Haven?" or "When did the New Haven Fire Department promote an African American to the rank of Captain for the first time?" That should keep audiences more engaged than what's happening on stage. |
Search CurtainUp in the box below PRODUCTION NOTES Good Faith: Four Chats About Race and the New Haven Fire Department By Karen Hartman Directed by Kenny Leon Cast: Laura Heisler (Writer), Ian Bedford (Frank and others), Billy Eugene Jones (Mike), Rob Demery (Tyrone and others), Rene Augesen (Karen and others) Scenic Designer: Stephanie Osin Cohen Costume Designer: Beatrice Vena Lighting Designer: Stephen Strawbridge Sound Designer: Kathryn Ruvuna Projection Designer: Zachary Borovay Production Dramaturg: Amy Boratko Technical Director: Kevin Belcher Vocal and Dialect Coach: Ron Carlos Casting Directors: Tara Rubin/Laura Schutzel Stage Manager: John A. Carlin Running Time: Act I: 65 minutes, Act II: 50 minutes, with a 15 minute intermission Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, Conn. Feb. 1-23, 2019 Reviewed: Feb. 8, 2019 REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
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