(out of 
)Racism is bad. This we can all agree on. Change is difficult. This we can also agree on. It's these two basic, honorable, though dramatically passive themes that are the base of the highly enjoyable, though strangely non-involving new play by talented local playwright Michael Grady, The White Picket Fence. Mr. Grady's wit and ear for dialogue keeps this play going at a furious pace. It isn't until careful reconsideration of the evening that it can be noticed that as funny as it is, it is the theatrical equivalent of Chinese food: enjoyable, but soon leaving you wanting something more.
Set between the 1968 Apollo 8 and 1969 Apollo 11 moon launches in an unspecified white midwestern suburb, the play centers on two families, one white and the newly arrived black family. The story is told by the two children in reminiscence, looking back from adulthood on their movement from colorblindness to race-awareness. Played by adult actors Mark De Michele and Mike Traylor, the action smoothly moves between memory and commentary, always reminding the audience that these are the memories of eight year-olds. The white family, led by Army Lt. Col. Sam Bell, a racist with a dark secret in his military past, are reluctant to accept the black family, led by feisty Louis Tatum. It is the women and children who are left to secure neighborly bonds, while the men hold their own entrenchments.
Playwright Grady's topic is timely, and noble, but he seems to have fallen into the trap of a white playwright discussing racism: the black family is wonderfully fleshed out, three dimensional and easy for white or black to like, while the white family (save for the son) are more stereotypical. Sam, played in a crisp and appropriately military style by Gerald Burgess, is hateful from opening line to near the end of the show, with no redeeming qualities until an unbelievable conversion. His wife, Barbara, underplayed effectively by Linda De Armond, is a bit better, although her character seemed eerily reminiscent to the mother character on the television show "The Wonder Years." This is actually true of a lot of the production.
More effective are the two colorblind sons, played by Mr. De Michele and Mr. Traylor. Mr. De Michele's vocal distinction between child and adult was a bit jarring, but both managed to capture the innocence and naiveté along with the excitement of new explorations, both on earth as well as in the heavens. The most balanced performances came from the two easiest characters to fit inside; Ken Love as Louis and Lillie Richardson as his wife Estelle. Each of these actors seemed the most at-ease with their lines and characters, and though Mr. Love did not seem to be quite as forceful and intimidating as the character seemed to call for, his power and self-assuredness at his groundbreaking plight helped him to carry off the role.
Director Andrew J. Traister has done a marvelous job of establishing setting, and he made an interesting choice of having the voices of the looting neighbors attacking the Tatum house come from the back of the theatre, implicating the audience in this reign of terror, but because of the distancing of the audience from the truly despicable Sam, the effect on the audience was more of an observer than of a party guilty by association. Save for a couple of effective comments by adult narrators De Michele and Traylor, which allowed implied guilt, the overall feeling of the show was potentially one of smug agreement by the viewer "I'd never act like that bigot Sam, so I'm a good person."
Kudos go to Scenic Designer Jeff Thomson, for his impressively stripped and equal recreation of the neighbor's houses, as well as Paul Black for his fluid lighting design and Susan Johnson-Hood's perfectly period costumes. Also impressive was Todd Higgins' sound design, which was nearly flawless throughout.
The White Picket Fence is a wonderful draft of a play,
and has all of the comedic elements necessary to make an enjoyable
evening of theatre. There is a sense from the formal atmosphere,
the joint production by Actor's Theatre of Phoenix and The Black
Theatre Troupe, and the all-star casting, that this was meant
to be more than a solid comedy with a moral message. Perhaps with
a less "black and white" establishment of good and evil
on the stage, the play will find its balance between comedy and
drama.
Production Details:
The White Picket Fence by Michael Grady
Herberger Theatre Stage West, Phoenix
252-8497
January 23rd-February 8th, 1998