REVIEW: The High Ground (Arena Stage)
Preview: The High Ground, set in modern-day Tulsa, is at its core a romantic tale about the echoes of history and what forces may come to wash over them. Particularly done via The Tulsa Race Massacre, which is sort of having a moment right now. In the last few years, especially in wake of the BLM protests, this perennially overlooked bruise on U.S. history has not only been profiled many a time on social media via the likes of BuzzFeed, but was even the main plot device in the widely acclaimed Watchmen series on HBO (it’s so good). Along with other heinous acts of hysteric, violent racism such as the MOVE Bombing, it’s important these sort of stories are told.
Acting: The two characters, “Soldier” (Phillip James Brannon) and “Victoria/Vicky/Vee/Woman in Black” (Nehassaiu deGannes) are the only ones we, as the audience interact with. Soldier is raw, intense, and above all, paranoid, for good reason. Brannon plays this agent of trauma well enough to really convey how deep these Oklahoma roots really go, and what has been lost as as result. It’s not made quite clear who Soldier actually is in reality, given he claims to have been killed in an event that happened 100 years ago, but we do know is whatever soul is occupying this body is abundantly real and present. While Soldier — a man who, for most of the play is dressed in early-20th century military garb— remains static, the other character of “V’ (for ease of typing) provides this axel of rotating lenses surrounding this Soldier’s experiences. Whilst Soldier defends his literal (atop a hill on Oklahoma State University’s Tulsa campus) and metaphorical high ground, V appears in varied forms to peer into his psyche in friendly, familiar, and romantic ways. Initially, deGannes just barely plays a public health grad student at OSU-Tulsa, and begrudgingly gets in a spat with Soldier as he harasses her from the hill. As the show progresses, her performances vary, to a reluctant cop, to his wistful wife, to eventually a spirit in black. I found this performance could have had more range to it, given the emphasis they seem to put on these roles for her. As very different as these roles are in the context of the past, present, and future of the Massacre, a bigger gap between projected apathy (the student) and acute ire (the spirit) would have made this all the more poignant. 2/10
Production: Staging is disappointingly static. The entire show takes place on a grassy hill, with a tall Georgian architectural tower with “OSU” on it, which is based on the real-life Standpipe Hill in Tulsa, in the exact neighborhood the Massacre took place in. At one point, Soldier enters it and speaks from a vent, but it ultimately is used solely for setting. About halfway through, the background becomes draped in an opaque white cloth, presumably to indicate a shift to within Soldier’s mind. It’s a bit of a cop-out, to be honest, and I wish there were more varied set pieces. I’m not saying the entire budget had to be dealt towards crazy lighting and sets, but the level of detail in the OSU Hill seems much for a show where only one part actually takes place there. I would have loved to see a “less is more” approach where they cleverly display elements of the entire Greenwood district in both past and present. 3/10
Book: Where this material shines is its Brechtian use of persona, where the viewer is only barely aware of the setting and of Soldier’s headspace at any given moment. There are frequent fourth-wall breaks, a climactic monologue to the audience, and the only other humans on stage are all-black stagehands who deliver props like servants to the actors. While the story delivery is sufficiently entertaining, I did find myself wondering what I was supposed to take away from this. Was it solely an acknowledgement of the Massacre? Was it a greater exploration of Black trauma? No matter what it was, I left feeling like it had not been told to its fullest ability. It’s a great storytelling media and this historic event needs to be talked about so much, as much as any other element of this country’s history of racism. Independently of the historic element, this was also had a background romantic one: Soldier awaiting his wife to return to Greenwood, after he’s helped rebuild it to be safe for them. But when is this accomplished? How do they reunite by the end of it? This could be left to interpretation, but they are both together in Black by the end. I take it this could either mean they’ve both met in the afterlife as spirits or their descendants are together in a post-Massacre world that they vow to rebuild. There’s a lot to analyze here and while it makes for some fun brain candy at times, does not leave me satisfied. 3/10
VisDev: The hill and the tower make up the pre-show staging, which I’ve given my opinions there. The program is a nicely painted rendition of the show, with nice, cool colors that give off a sullen, worrysome tone that fits. In the foreground are our characters, on a hill by a tree, where a village burns brightly in the background. It sells the message of the show superbly. Not to mention, outside of the theatre, there are huge banners with a timeline of the massacre to further educate viewers on what they’re about to learn about and/or what they have already. It’s a great touch. 7/10
Verdict: While overall poignant and topical, The High Ground feels over-acted and under-explained to the point of confusion.
