{"id":609,"date":"2018-10-02T12:13:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-02T12:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebzbproductions.ebzb.org\/native-play-to-address-police-brutality-gun-violence-tonighthttps-t-co-gt0cth96zz-via-tec_newspaper\/"},"modified":"2018-10-02T12:13:00","modified_gmt":"2018-10-02T12:13:00","slug":"native-play-to-address-police-brutality-gun-violence-tonighthttps-t-co-gt0cth96zz-via-tec_newspaper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebzb.org\/WPress\/2018\/10\/02\/native-play-to-address-police-brutality-gun-violence-tonighthttps-t-co-gt0cth96zz-via-tec_newspaper\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018NATIVE\u2019 play to address police brutality, gun violence tonight:\nhttps:\/\/t.co\/gT0cTH96zz via @TEC_newspaper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018NATIVE\u2019 play to address police brutality, gun violence tonight…<\/span><\/h1>\n

  In the heat of today\u2019s current climate, EBZB Productions will present a play tonight which shines a light on modern-day hot topics such as police brutality, oppression and gun violence in America.<\/span><\/p>\n

The play \u201cNATIVE,\u201d written by playwright Ian Finley, is based off a true story about a collaboration between playwright Paul Green and novelist Richard Wright as they work to turn the 1940 novel \u201cNative Son\u201d into a stage play, all while debating about race relations in the time period.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNative Son,\u201d written by Wright, tells the story of 20-year-old Bigger Thomas, an African-American youth living in utter poverty in a poor area on Chicago’s South Side in the 1930s.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the process of adapting \u201cNative Son\u201d for the stage, Green (a white, Southern professor) and Wright (a self-educated African-American with communist sympathies) gain respect for each other as they discuss the discrimination of African-Americans during the 1940s, according to EBZB Productions\u2019 website<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wright and Green later met again during rewrites of the play and had a disagreement over who has the \u201cright to the story of race, politics and social class,\u201d as stated on EBZB Productions website.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the play, the audience will be able to talk with the producers, actors, playwright and Margaret Bauer, the Harriot College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor at East Carolina University, about the play.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cConversations about race are difficult, but we need to have them,\u201d Bauer said. \u201cDebates do not always end in complete agreement, but we can remain respectful of those who differ from us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bauer said she found out about the play when serving on the board of the Paul Green Foundation in the 1980\u2019s, while reading past interviews done with Green about \u201cNATIVE.\u201d Bauer added she was then able to bring the play to the community through EBZB Productions, a nationally-touring theatre company.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though \u201cNATIVE\u201d has not yet been performed in eastern North Carolina, Bauer claims the play has been very well received in the Triangle. Bauer added her first reaction to \u201cNATIVE\u201d was the play had \u201ca story worth telling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Although there are no ECU students in the play\u2019s cast, Bauer said \u201cNATIVE\u201d is a play which can appeal to students who have read or are interested in reading \u201cNative Son.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe African American literature students have read the book \u2018Native Son\u2019 and it would be interesting for students to see,\u201d Bauer said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Baxter Jones, a criminal justice and African-American studies double major, said while \u201cNATIVE\u201d was introduced to him as an extra-credit opportunity he hopes he and his classmates will gain a \u201clife-changing perspective\u201d from watching the play.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith today\u2019s climate, it\u2019s crucial to understand how we got here in the first place,\u201d Jones said. \u201cTheater is one of the best way to convey that racial dynamic in a way people can easily visualize and understand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Finley, the playwright of \u201cNATIVE,\u201d is originally from Utah and attended New York University\u2019s Tisch School of the Performing Arts for his graduate studies in playwriting. The first play he wrote was \u201cThe Nature Of The Nautilus,\u201d which was later adapted in American Sign Language (ASL) for deaf actors.<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked why he was inspired to write \u201cNATIVE,\u201d Finley said throughout his life, he has always been asked to \u201cwrite about (the) communities that he was not apart of.\u201d In writing \u201cNATIVE,\u201d Finley added his motivation for the story was conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI saw an opportunity to explore the conflict I had found myself in many times,\u201d Finley said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like other playwrights, Finley said he gets a \u201cthrill\u201d from seeing his work come to life on the stage. Finley added he feels the message behind the play is why it is important for younger audiences to hear \u201cNATIVE.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPrivilege is nothing new and if we are privileged, our greatest responsibility is to listen more than we speak,\u201d Finley said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNATIVE\u201d will start tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Whirligig Stage. The cost is free for students with a valid student ID card and is $10 for the general public.<\/span><\/p>\n