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Facing Our Truth: Ten Minute Plays on Trayvon, Race and Privilege

Published by USC Bedrosian Center on

Following the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin, the trial and eventual acquittal of George Zimmerman, New York-based theatre company The New Black Fest responded by hiring a diverse group of accomplished playwrights to write about themes of race and privilege in America. What resulted are six gorgeous 10-minute plays, some hilarious, some sorrowful: Facing Our Truth: Ten Minute Plays on Trayvon, Race and Privilege.

This podcast was recorded after viewing the USC School of Theater Arts production of April 1, 2017. The discussion ranged from how well the playwrights and actors developed their craft to portray these complex issues, to personal reactions to certain plays, to how knowledge & empathy can start a chain reaction for the betterment of society. Participants: David Bridel, Aubrey Hicks, Lavonna Blair Lewis, John Sonego

“Telling the story is not enough. The play brings it all to the door. (Sonego) We must step through the door and decide on actions and solutions. We have to keep asking questions. The time we close the door and we stop talking is probably the most fatal time of all. (Bridel)”

“The theater has a civic function and it is prompted by the live experience by being an actor in the room and engaging in the present moment with story. What happens in the discussion after the event is just as valuable in the doing of the play whilst it is transpiring. There is always a social element to the theater.“ (Bridel)

To listen to the Price Projection Room discussion of Facing Our Truth, click the orange arrow in the Soundcloud player at the top of this post. Or download and subscribe through iTunes, Soundcloud, or Google Play.

Links and related reading/listening …

The Humans, Jody Armour, Seven (the play)

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Let us know what you think of the play and/or our conversation at Facebook or Twitter.

This podcast continues our ongoing efforts to bring policy and its impact into the public discourse.

Special thanks to Dean Jack Knott, USC Price and Dean David Bridel, USC School of Dramatic Arts for their support of this interdisciplinary conversation.

This podcast was produced by Aubrey Hicks and Jonathan Schwartz, recorded and mixed by Corey Hedden. @AubreyHi @jonHLYP @coreyhedden

Bedrosian Center