Wow, wow, wow—the incendiary performances and the hot button black #MeToo conflicts that fire up The Light inaugurate MCC Theater’s handsome new residence in the far West 50s with a blazing show that reaffirms the company’s mission to produce works that provoke timely conversation.
But first, let’s step back, catch a breath, and disclose the situation for playwright Loy A. Webb’s new two-character play, which initially and smoothly details the happy relationship enjoyed today by Genesis (Mandi Masden) and Rashad (McKinley Belcher III), an upscale, handsome, 30-something African-American couple living in Chicago.
Genesis is the smart, comely principal of a progressive school. Rashad, who once aspired to be a professional athlete, is a hunky Chicago firefighter and the fond single dad of a toddler daughter by a previous relationship.
[Read David Finkle’s ★★★★ review here.]
Together for two years—this October evening in 2018, in fact, marks the second anniversary of their first date—Genesis and Rashad relax over wine in her very nice condo. Designer Kimie Nishikawa’s airy set for the living room-kitchen area, all white brick walls, gleaming wood floors, nice West Elm furnishings, and African artwork bespeaks their comfortable, upper middle class existence.
The first 30 minutes or so of Webb’s 75-minute drama is thoroughly (and deceptively) beguiling as the couple return home from work, adorably banter about news of the day and this and that, and sweetly reminisce about the first time they met. Hopefully, it will not be too great a spoiler to disclose that eventually Rashad surprises Genesis with a gorgeous engagement ring along with a sincere expression of his abiding love.
To celebrate, Rashad has snared VIP tickets for that evening’s sold-out concert headlined by a vastly popular musical artist much beloved for his righteous and beneficent civic involvement. But Genesis refuses to attend, initially citing the star’s disrespectful attitude towards women in his songs. The more Rashad tries to coax Genesis into going, the more intransigent she becomes. Genesis eventually tells him that a college friend of hers was sexually assaulted by this guy. Since the artist was never charged for such a crime, Rashad disbelieves Genesis’s assertions.
The couple’s subsequently escalating he said/she said argument, which they are having in the middle of last autumn’s Kavanaugh confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court, reveals—well, let’s say no more about the story, except to observe that their increasingly heated clash is aimed to reflect dismissive male attitudes towards women who claim experiences of sexual aggression. And also how women are getting fed up with stomaching such prejudice.
“All you men are the same,” says Genesis. “I’m not worth marching over. We black girls and women never really are. We are always told that men, little black girl, are more important than your protection …”
Similar sharp observations punctuate the latter parts of the drama, which stir up audible reactions from the audience.
Before detailing the excellence of director Logan Vaughn’s production, let’s talk more about Webb’s thought-provoking drama. Sure, some of the plotting is obviously glib, what with this bitter argument erupting on the same night that the couple gets engaged, and how Rashad was badly burned in the past by a false accusation of sexual misconduct. Still, Webb crafts effortless, often humorous, very natural conversation and puts it in the mouths of two extremely engaging characters. And her topic certainly is opportune.
The playwright provides an open ending for her story, which no doubt encourages viewers to speculate how Genesis and Rashad might bridge the moral chasm that suddenly divides them. On the other hand, that’s just what second acts are for, and it certainly would be interesting to see Webb try to resolve the conflict she sets up. (I felt just the same way about American Son.)
Vaughn ably navigates the play’s changing rhythms, which rise and ebb several times, and she cultivates superb performances from her two actors. The play demands its actors to run a rapid gamut of intense emotions from bliss to misery and both Masden and Belcher believably do so with natural ease. When Off Broadway acting awards are voted in the spring, it’s likely they’re taking home a couple of honors.
The Light is presented in the second and smaller auditorium of the new Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space. It is a commodious black box room that accommodates different types of staging; in this case a two-third arena configuration. The seating, which is flexible, is short on leg room and a tad tight in width. One forgets, however, any discomfort in the thrall of watching the latest struggle of the sexes that illuminate The Light.
