We Are Proud

By Jackie Sibblies Drury

Directed by Eric Ting

Originally produced at Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago, IL.

March 30, 2012 through April 29, 2012

About the Premiere Production: "Direct from IGNITION, the festival that brought you Pulitzer finalist The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, comes this brave new work that sent chills and laughter through this summer’s festival audiences. When a group of actors gather together to give a presentation on a distant genocide, they realize that summaries based on history books aren’t nearly enough to capture the complexity of human extermination—or human interaction. In an honest attempt to delve deeper, they crash into their own simmering fears and unconscious bigotry and come face to face with the potential for brutality in all of us. IGNITION, Victory Gardens daring and hugely successful new play development initiative, was conceived to support the theater’s mission of new play development and diversity. In the spring of 2010, 120 writers of color under 40 years of age from around the United States submitted new scripts for the first phase of IGNITION. The top six plays were then selected, workshopped and presented as staged readings in a weeklong festival later that same summer. From the top six, Jackie Sibblies Drury’s We Are Proud to Present... was selected to be part of Victory Gardens mainstage season."

Artistic Statement: In the play a group of black and white actors attempt to stage a dramatic response to genocide in Africa. In that process, they tap into an ugly collective unconscious that pushes contemporary racism to the forefront, eclipsing the initial historic event to be staged. Some of the worst excesses of American racism, including echoes of a minstrel show and a near-lynching are aspects of the script. For the artistic team, the work presents an unprecedented challenge: in committing to these characters onstage, they must also confront their own latent assumptions about race and responsibility as part of a creative team. The workshop has been revealing, awkward, and at times confrontational. The play has galvanized the acting company who have cleared their schedules each time we have been able to work together.

Director: Eric Ting

Associate Artistic Director: Sandy Shinner

Literary Manager: Aaron Carter

Stage Manager: Rita Vreeland

Cast: Karen Aldridge, Erin Neal, Aaron Roman Weiner, Jake Cohen, Kamal Angelo Bolden, Travis Turner

Additional Funders: Chicago Community Trust

Subsequent Productions

Available Light Theatre in Columbus, OH, March 27 - April 12

Soho Rep in New York, NY, November 7 - December 16, 2013

Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, MN February 21, 2017 - March 12, 2017

PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill, NC February 24, 2016 - March 13, 2016

Company One Theatre in Boston, MA January 9, 2014 - February 1, 2014 (Co-production with ArtsEmerson)