Stage Review - 53% Of (Sound Theatre Company)
Stage Review - 53% Of
Presented By: Sound Theatre Company - Seattle, WA
Show Run: June 15 - June 30, 2024
Date Reviewed: Saturday, June 15, 2024 (Opening Night)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
A theme that has been prevalent in many of the works that have been on stage in the region this season is that around the concept of “othering”. For those not familiar, “othering” refers to grouping people that are dissimilar from another, whether it be by color, race, religion, sexuality, gender (just to name a few) and labeling them as “others”. We, as humans, have a tendency to take shortcuts, to make generalities when we can, to profile. What makes this “othering” such a problem is that at its root it happens when we look at what people are, rather than who they are, which then allows us to paint with broad brush strokes over a group of people, rather than taking the time (and effort) to consider them individually. The epidemic of “othering” in our society is just one of the reasons that we are all so divided politically and socially. We gather in our echo chambers, we judge those that aren’t in there with us and focus on what we don’t have in common rather than what we do, and then amplify our voices in these bubbles until they become extreme, with nothing contrary to challenge us. There is perhaps no other play that takes all of this and illustrates the consequences of echo chambers, extremism, and “othering” like Steph Del Rosso’s comedy 53% Of, currently running on stage at the Center Theatre at Seattle Center Armory through June 30 in a production directed by Shermona Mitchell and Teresa Thuman for Sound Theatre Company.
You might think 53% Of is an odd title for a play, but it’s extremely clever, almost making one feel compelled to look up its significance. Back in 2016, 53% is the number of white women who voted for President Donald Trump, a surprising percentage to some, but at the end of the day explainable, and this play is a good start. There’s definitely a lens that is applied here, one in which white women appear innocent in their political behavior, that their actions can be taken at face value rather than having an ulterior motive. This play dismantles that and makes the audience look at motivation, guilt, and absolution by action in a way that is both extremely satirical and hard hitting.
The cast of 53% Of is comprised of six women, each portraying three different characters, in three distinct acts. The exception is the role of KJ, who is played by co-director Shermona Mitchell in a fourth act that serves to bring the various points of the play together in the most thought provoking way. The other actors here are Caitlin Frances (Leslie/Larry/Lucy), Teal Sherer (Denise/Derek/Dana), Karli Reinbold (Sue/Stan/Sasha), Zandi Carlson (Vicky/Victor/Vivian), and Mandy Nelson (PJ/RJ/JJ). The cast is wonderfully funny, and from their character names, I’m not risking spoiling anything by mentioning that they each play both male and female characters. They also play characters that are extreme right and extreme left on the political spectrum, all confident that their opinions are right.
The first two acts are set in Bethlehem, PA between election day 2016 and inauguration day 2017 (shout out to Steph Del Rosso for her mentions of Wind Gap and Stockertown, and another to Robin Macartney and her scenic/props design for including Yuengling Koozies for the beer bottles used in Act 2!!), the first a meeting of a group of women planning the upcoming visit of President Trump to a local school, competing against each other for the privilege of introducing him. The women otherwise appear to be on the same page, that is until PJ, a new member of the group arrives in a questionable sweatshirt, extreme even for this group. PJ also doesn’t appear to be part of the same socioeconomic group that the other women are in, and what ensues is a conversation that devolves into social and political judgment and an exposition of what happens when an echo chamber is infiltrated by someone who isn’t exactly like those already in residence, looking at what they believe the newcomer is rather than who she is. This goes even further when Act 2 begins, where the actors take on the roles of ladies’ husbands from the first act. This piece has a ton of “locker room talk”, a fair share of bullying, and even more judgment as they come together to watch the inauguration. The socioeconomic discussion turns to an investigation of privilege and what people (especially white) can get away versus those of a lower stature. Act 3 jumps across the political aisle and moves to Brooklyn for a meeting of twenty-something women, coming together to discuss how they can organize and what they can protest to take advantage of the momentum from the women’s march that occurred during the 2017 inaugural weekend. The ladies are filled with general outrage, and while the outrage appears to be well intentioned, it becomes a matter of question when the conversation turns to what and when to protest, and the considerations of their schedules and desires. There’s also one of their party missing, KJ, the reason for her absence resolved in the fourth and final act. It’s in that act when the seriousness of the piece comes together, KJ’s reason for not attending is laid out and is a truth that is at the heart of what Steph Del Rosso is trying to say, part of which that it is ok, even celebrated, for white women to be angry and fed up, but that same ability is not afforded to black women, just one of many things that divide us as Americans.
There’s a lot that is good in the storytelling here, not the least of which is in the presentation of these extreme viewpoints and the feeling they each generate in the audience. It’s likely that if you’re on the left, seeing the behavior in the first two acts might steel your resolve, but seeing the same, albeit on the other side, in the third might make you feel a bit uncomfortable, and vice versa. What 53% Of shows is that extremism on either side has consequences and not considering the other side at all, but rather remaining in an echo chamber where the only opinion you hear is no different than yours leads to a dehumanization of anyone with with a dissenting viewpoint, again looking at what they are, rather than who.
Telling this story is a group of six very good actors. Each of the roles they play, the right wing extreme women and men, the left leaning twenty-somethings, are portrayed satirically, with a ton of humor, but the group knows how to turn serious on a dime, there’s a moment in each scene that requires this of them. Each of these performances are very good, Act 1 highlighted by Mandy Nelson’s PJ and Caitlin Frances’ Leslie, snarky and passive aggressive when trying to convince the others that she should be the one introducing the President-Elect. In Act 2, I especially like Karli Reinbold’s Stan, but the actors all do a nice job here in their male roles, their masculinity exaggerated of course in satire, but also painfully accurate. Zandi Carlson’s judgy looks and freak out at the end of the scene 3 is stellar, and this group does a very nice job of switching ideological gears for this one. Finally, in the fourth act, Teal Sherer and Shermona Mitchell are superb in their one on one conversation between Dana and KJ, in which Shermona’s KJ points out the hypocrisy of the white entitled class who shroud their own bigotry in the illusion of enlightenment.
And as a vehicle for telling this story, Shermona and Teresa have put together a nice vision presented by Robin Macartney’s very effective scenic design, including furniture set pieces specific to each scene placed to use the entirety of the stage and allow for the movement of the actors, as well as Jared Norman’s projections, deployed to differentiate the locations and time of year. From a living room at Christmas to a bar in Harlem, the projections do a nice job providing this context, but they’re even better in between scenes providing video history lessons from the past in the suffragette movement or the ERA movement. The entire creative team here does a really nice job with this presentation. It’s the first at the Center Theatre since the company has become a resident in the space and the group has acclimated nicely. Lights (Jacob Viramontes) and sound (Josh Valdez) do their part to bring the audience into the location and the setting, Christmas time in Act 1 to the dark bar in Act 4. It’s a nice job all around, and on the costume side, Doris Black has created a wardrobe that fits with the grouping in each scene, with a special callout to Zandi’s Flyers jersey in Act 2 as Victor.
53% Of takes a satirical look at some pretty timely and challenging topics that underscore the current political divide in America. Though there are a ton of laughs in the play, it presents the dangers of extremism, living in an echo chamber, and not seeing people for who they are, rather than a generalized perception of what they are. Directed by Shermona Mitchell and Teresa Thurman, and presented by a cast of six talented and versatile actors who portray both men and women as well as Americans on either side of the political aisle, Sound Theatre has kicked off its residency on the Center Theatre stage at the Seattle Center Armory with a funny, yet thought provoking, winner of a show.
53% Of, presented by Sound Theatre Company runs through June 30 on the Center Theatre stage at the Seattle Center Armory. For more information on the company, the show, and for ticket availability and purchase, visit https://soundtheatrecompany.org/.
Photo credit: Giao Nguyen
