A Historical Lesson For Contemporary Life

“Reparation”, a play that will continue through March 11, is beyond recommendable.

I was fortunate enough to catch it on its preview night, and am very excited and proud that it is playing in my hometown of West Orange. In a play that is mainly composed of dialogue rather than action, there is enough content to necessitate a second viewing. This is not to say that one cannot enjoy this show the first time. I feel, however, that an additional attendance may intensify the message being expressed. There are a lot of words and memories to dissect, and because of the nature of this play, I plan to see it one more time in the next three weeks.

As one can probably guess, this story revolves around racial and historical themes. While it takes place during present day, the audience is reminded of this country’s horrific past through the brilliant narrations of William Patterson. Patterson, played by Frankie Faison from the HBO series The Wire, is an African-American custodian of a site which the Aurora real estate company wants to purchase. This site, mind you, is a slave burial ground. When Aurora, a predominantly white company struggles to win this land over, they turn to David, a former African-American employee who excels at playing the race card. Their past with him is certainly checkered due to a race related controversy. However, his Caucasian ex-girlfriend Chrissie Aurora, whose father founded the very company, feels that they now have a mutual interest. If David can convince the very traditional Patterson that Aurora’s intentions with this land are positive, Chrissie and the two of them can all benefit.

Among these three characters, extremely deep conversations arise. During the trying negotiation process, the audience gets taken back in time. Such scenes touch upon cruel experiences that slaves had to endure, Patterson’s civil rights era childhood, and the sour notes in David and Chrissie’s former corporate and love life-a combination that often proves to be deadly.   

Through such journeys, the cast and audience members are forced to ask themselves what the “right thing for everyone involved” is, as well as choose between one’s “black past or white future.” With such important questions in play, it seems all too fitting for the Luna Stage of West Orange-a town that has proved time and time again to be so racially progressive, to host this. This is a play that everyone should see, and as mentioned earlier, one time may not be sufficient. The truths of race, greed, and heartbreak are ones that we can never dig deep enough into, but “Reparation” surely pushes us to our limits.