Miller Discusses Upcoming Play

To the Editor:

1) On April 20-22 “Master Harold” ... and the boys, by white South African playwright Athol Fugard, goes up under sponsorship by the three main theater organizations on campus. 
2) Each member of the multi-racial cast will be playing someone of another race. 
3) The play will be followed by discussions about race relations at/in Oberlin. 
4) I am the director, and I am a white American.
To anyone familiar with the struggles surrounding racial representation and theater here at Oberlin (which plays are chosen, who sponsors whom, who can legitimately interpret a given role, when it’s safe to talk, where are the limits of a single person’s background, etc.), it becomes immediately clear just how much risk there is in the above statements. This letter is an explanation and an invitation. A lot has been said in this forum already about these issues. I want more. Regardless of feelings and delicate situations, I am convinced that a continuing conversation can do nothing but help us.
As a white student in the Oberlin theater world, I have had no complaint with my culture being explored on stage and in the classrooms. When I proposed to do an independent directing project, I was easily given a full assent. When I asked for resources, I was immediately humored. How rosy the world can be. My plan is to use this rosy luck to examine life in a place where such rosiness befalls some and not others. 
I chose “Master Harold”... and the boys because it speaks to the pain of friendships/relationships between people who are stuck by society on different sides of a racial hierarchy. The author, as a white person, was quite possibly ill-equipped to capture the full experience of most of the characters in his play, yet I persist in presenting his vision to our community. His work angles in at what I feel is happening at Oberlin –– if he has left things out, I have tried either to address them underhandedly, or to trust in my audience and various side exhibits to turn my ignorances into a learning tool for all.
The radical casting is meant, accordingly, to support the audience in thinking critically about characters who are both scripted and directed by white minds. Fugard is not the average white playwright, but to some folks his plot could suggest a Save the Last Dance syndrome, wherein the characters of color bend over backwards and make all sorts of heroic sacrifices to teach or befriend a white character, while said white character glides through the script with dubious enlightenment. I hope that the audience will become self-conscious of this trend in our film and literary past if presented with unconventional actors in the sacrificing roles. Moreover, as every actor experiences an unprecedented position, the rest of us are given the chance to vicariously expand our own vantage points.
As for tackling a political play set in a time and place that are not my own, all I can offer is the sentiment that it was growing up in America over the last 22 years that first magnetized me to the struggle of South African people throughout this century. I do however accept my status as a mere student of South African culture, and can only try my best to bring this play to Oberlin in a spirit of learning, inviting audience members to critique and expand according to their willingness to share.
It is that spirit of sharing that I implore through this project and letter. I cannot agree with those who would avoid confrontations out of fear. Please, please, let fly your ideas! This editorial page is one chance. The post-play discussions will be another. But even if I personally don’t get to hear you, let’s all hear each other...

–Claire Miller
College junior