‘Look Away’ Premiere Evocative, Tense

Courtesy Photo by Beth Hall
(From left to right) Thomas Brazzle, Daniel Kyri, Justin Walker, Rebecca Harris and Erik Parillo in the world premiere of “Look Away,” on stage January 29-February 22 at TheatreSquared.

After getting the chance to see “Look Away” on its premiere weekend, I can say with confidence the play successfully creates an experience that’s both suspenseful and introspective.

Written by TheatreSquared’s artistic director Robert Ford and directed by Benny Sato Ambush, the play is based on true events set in 1933 in Wilson, Ark. — about an hour southeast of Jonesboro, Ark. The audience is seated facing the kitchen of Roy Wilson (Erik Parillo) who is the “boss man” about town.

In the opening scene, we find Roy and his sister Marie (Rebecca Harris) drunkenly chatting before each of them pass out around the house. Not long after, yells and sounds of people running panicked are heard “outside” the house and suddenly, two young black men — Alonzo (Thomas Brazzle) and Matty (Daniel Kyri) — bust into the house. The two are exhausted and filthy with grass and dirt on their clothes.

Accused of raping two white girls in town, the two young men were running for their lives to the Wilson mansion — the only safe place Alonzo could think of — to hide out from the white rioters. Having grown up in the house with his mother who worked as the Wilson’s chef, Alonzo reveals his plan to appeal to Roy to send the rioters home. Eventually Roy’s son Bobby (Justin Walker), who grew up with Alonzo, returns home and gets involved in the situation.

From then on out, it’s a suspenseful drama of racial tension in the south as the play unfolds the events surrounding that night in Wilson. Despite the grim theme of the play, there are moments when the play finds levity — whether appropriate or not.

By now, I’ve seen several productions in TheatreSquared, and just about all of them were impressive. Many of those were also nationally produced plays, so it was exciting to see a locally written and produced play be just as good as those produced around the country. Better yet, having the close-to-home setting in Wilson, Ark. versus the typical New York or London setting was a breath of fresh air.

First and foremost, “Look Away” is the kind of play that pushes the audience to reflect upon themselves and the questions the play raises. The conflict going on within the play is messy, simply because of the facts within the setting. The play shows us the strain between interracial relationships and the harsh realities of old southern concepts through Alonzo and Matty’s interactions with each other and the Wilsons.

Several factors come together to make the play strong. The set and light design was impressive and life-like. The depression-era home’s vintage appliances looked brand new, and the props effectively served their purpose.

Better yet, the sound design was well executed and demonstrated an attention to space that truly brought the set to life. Whether it was the sounds of movements upstairs, voices outside, or the sound of a far off telephone, the noises effectively provided a spacial depth to the set.

Brazzle and Kyri seemed to have developed a good enough chemistry as Alonzo and Matty in how the two react to each other on stage. However, at times during the performance it wasn’t clear if the two were old best friends or two men brought together by the situation—despite their apparent history. Overall, the acting was believable and engaging, but felt stale at certain times. The voice tone levels seemed to be either shouting in panic or anxious and leading. That being said, the scenario of the play made for it to be difficult to see more out of the actors, and all of it I found to make sense given the reality of it all.

Afterwards, I had the opportunity to stick around for guided commentary on the play with Ford and Charles Robinson, UA vice chancellor for diversity and community. With Robinson’s expertise in historical race relations, his commentary and explanations enriched the experience. If given the option to stick around to discuss the play, I recommend it. Staying helped provide several other perspectives the audience had to the play, and generated more thoughts to further reflect on afterwards.

“Look Away” will continue to run through Feb. 22. Tickets range from $15-$40, and can be bought at theatre2.org.