Written by Antoinette Nwandu and Directed by Simone Raquel Alexander, Pass Over is a charged piece of theater everyone needs to see. Remember South Africa in the 1980s and the Apartheid rebellions? The African American population has had a few movements in America, from civil rights movements to BLM. But still, American slavery persists. Its insidious form manifests through purposely redlining neighborhoods and creating economic wastelands. It happens in our prison system where inmates (male and female) are either denied pay (as in the case of Texas prisons, which are run “for profit”) or paid way below the minimum wage. It comes in police harassment and police violence.
The latter is the subject of this play. There are three actors. Moses, played by South African Sibonelo Shezi (pictured), who resides in the States; Kitch, played by Adonis Anderson, who hails from NYC; and Mister/Osifer, played by Nathan Jerkins.
Theme
This 70-minute play on one stage without any scenery changes moves quickly.
Essentially, Pass Over is about two down-and-out black, homeless, and hungry friends at the mercy of a racist white cop who abuses them verbally and sometimes physically steals their food and threatens them if they leave the block. A white man stumbles into the neighborhood lost, dressed in garb from an F. Scott Fitzgerald book but who represents an archetype – the unwoke, privileged white person. He’s going to see his mother with a picnic food basket. Eventually, he cautiously gives the food to the men, and after he leaves, the cop drops by, only to steal it while the men are asleep.
Every day, Moses and Kitch fantasize about their freedom and use a counting game, 1 through 10, of their dreams and wishes to make their lives bearable, one day at a time. They are trapped but not ignorant. They are poor but not uneducated. They are in dire circumstances but not without hope to pass over either by suicide or crossing the divide between their current lives and the future across the road.
The play comes to a head when Moses and Kitch decide to bonk each other over the head with a stone to escape the hell they’re living. As this is happening, the cop appears, and Moses threatens the cop to shoot him and end it all. The cop gains consciousness and regrets his former actions, does not shoot, and “frees the men,” allowing them to move out of the block to cross or pass over the demarcation line.
But no, that is not the happy ending.
The director said, “This play is about Black people’s endurance, hope, and joy and how our society prohibits unabashed freedom for all. Pass Over is a cautionary tale and a calling card for activism. We all make this world the kind of world that all folks can thrive in. We need to avoid getting swept away by fear and people who do not look like us. I hope you leave the theatre feeling activated to change what you cannot accept.”
It was interesting to note the audience. 95% who were white and elderly either didn’t get the gist of the show’s humor or language, sitting there with stone-cold faces. I hope at least they understood that racism and “fear of the other” is a real thing and must end now.
The world premiere of Pass Over was produced and presented at Steppenwolf Theatre Company is in Chicago, IL; Anna D. Shapiro is the artistic director, and David Schmitz is the managing director. Produced by Lincoln Center Theater in New York City in 2018. Developed by Cherry Lane Mentor Project, Angelina Fiordellisi, Founding Artistic Director. Thanks to Ground Floor Theatre’s Lisa Scheps, Founder & Co-Artistic Director, who made this happen in our town.
Ground Floor Theatre fosters an environment for creative thinkers and artists to produce works focusing on underrepresented communities, lifting unheard voices to people who need to listen to them. Visit groundfloortheatre.org for more information on upcoming performances. The show closes Aug. 31, 2024. Photo Credit: Elise Krentzel.