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nuhafariha 's review for:
Underground, Monroe, and the Mamalogues: Three Plays
by Lisa B. Thompson
Thank you to Northwestern University Press and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!
Available Aug 15 2020
WOW. I went into this book completely unaware of who Lisa B Thompson was or having read a play since my high school years where we read August Wilson's "Fences". I was completely unprepared for how much I would end up enjoying the experience. Thompson's three plays, "Underground", "Monroe" and "The Mamalogues" focus on the Black middle class experience, predominantly in the thirty years and older. Coming from all walks of life, Thompson's vivid characters delve into topics as diverse as the Black Lives Matter protests, the Great Migration and Black motherhood. With excellently curated playlists, witty dialogue and deep discussions,Thompson offers a little bit for every audience.
One of my favorite discussions occurred in Underground, between Mason and Kyle, regarding class and protest. As an upper middle class individual, Kyle is able to act and take risks that Mason, a struggling lower middle class, simply can't afford to. Viewed in the context of modern day protests, this important nuance begs us to ask who is taking the risk inherent in protesting and who can afford to do so? A lot of organizers I've worked with are upper middle class kids who can afford to spend hours researching, reading and theorizing, who can afford to risk losing their jobs because their parents can pay the bills. And yet by positioning themselves in leadership positions in protest groups, are they not recreating the same power structures they are seeking to destroy? I don't know what the solution is, just that I got chills in the final moments of the play when there's knocking in the door and Kyle turns to Mason and asks "What are you willing to die for?"
Available Aug 15 2020
WOW. I went into this book completely unaware of who Lisa B Thompson was or having read a play since my high school years where we read August Wilson's "Fences". I was completely unprepared for how much I would end up enjoying the experience. Thompson's three plays, "Underground", "Monroe" and "The Mamalogues" focus on the Black middle class experience, predominantly in the thirty years and older. Coming from all walks of life, Thompson's vivid characters delve into topics as diverse as the Black Lives Matter protests, the Great Migration and Black motherhood. With excellently curated playlists, witty dialogue and deep discussions,Thompson offers a little bit for every audience.
One of my favorite discussions occurred in Underground, between Mason and Kyle, regarding class and protest. As an upper middle class individual, Kyle is able to act and take risks that Mason, a struggling lower middle class, simply can't afford to. Viewed in the context of modern day protests, this important nuance begs us to ask who is taking the risk inherent in protesting and who can afford to do so? A lot of organizers I've worked with are upper middle class kids who can afford to spend hours researching, reading and theorizing, who can afford to risk losing their jobs because their parents can pay the bills. And yet by positioning themselves in leadership positions in protest groups, are they not recreating the same power structures they are seeking to destroy? I don't know what the solution is, just that I got chills in the final moments of the play when there's knocking in the door and Kyle turns to Mason and asks "What are you willing to die for?"