quakefultales

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indie game dev, AI and narrative design researcher, playwright


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I saw this play a few years ago and remember liking it a lot, it's about the gentrification of a black neighborhood in 1968/69. If you're not familiar with August Wilson, he did a series of plays about black life in every decade post civil war

He's great, he writes amazing dialogue, and knows how to keep the spark of hope alive in the middle of terrible things

The thing I didnt appreciate the first time I saw it was how much it is a play about taking what you are owed and what you are worth. There are three main plotlines in the show, Memphis won't take less than $25k for his diner to be torn down, Sterling wants to get his winning lottery numbers, and Hambone wants to get the ham he is owed for painting the white butcher's fence

All of this takes being stubborn and knowing what you are worth and not accepting the crumbs people give you

So of course there's a current of class in the script too. The undertaker is also the community's landlord and is far and away the wealthiest person we see. Everyone is desperate for money to the point of trying to win some luck from the recently deceased local profit at his wake

But the other part of getting what you are owed is solidarity. Memphis gets better than his floor price by sticking to his guns, and as much as he complains about people using his diner in certain ways, he doesn't throw them out ever. Hambone only posthumously gets his ham thanks to Sterling seeing him. And Sterling gets his winnings and bet back by going and getting it from the white owners, because he doesn't take out getting screwed over on the the man selling the numbers

Also quite a bit about respecting those who came before you and not hiding from that history

Anyway it's a great show if you ever get a chance to see it


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