Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Donja R. Love’s unflinchingly honest ONE IN TWO examines a shocking statistic

• By drediman
• January 13, 2020
• No Comments

Jamyl Dobson, Leland Fowler, and Edward Mawere in the New Group’s production of “one in two” by Donja R. Love at the Pershing Square Signature Center. Photo by Monique Carboni.

This weekend marked the closing of Donja R. Love’s new play one in two, courtesy of the New Group at the Pershing Square Signature Center. In recent years, Mr. Love has written several noteworthy plays centering around the queer black experience, particularly from an historical perspective (as evidenced by rich plays such as Sugar in Our Wounds). But unlike Jeremy O. Harris and other similarly-minded contemporaries who experiment with form as much as content, Mr. Love has typically produced traditionally-structured plays with clearly defined beginnings, middles, and ends.

In this respect, one in two marks a stylistic departure for Mr. Love. The piece is a surreal, self-aware play that draws inspiration from absurdist works like Sartre’s No Exit. The play is also motivated by the playwright’s 10th anniversary living with HIV. As such, it examines the human circumstances behind the play’s shocking central statistic – that one in every two black queer men is currently likely to be diagnosed with HIV. I deeply admire the playwright’s openness for shedding light on a side of the AIDS epidemic that has unfortunately flown under the radar. The play’s unflinching depiction of its characters’ underlying shame and powerlessness more than occasionally makes for powerful theater, although this raw, unfiltered approach does come with some heavy-handed didacticism (especially towards the play’s tugging conclusion).

Director Stevie Walker-Webb has given the play a clinical staging (thanks largely to the production’s strikingly austere set design) that works well to counteract some of Mr. Love’s overflowing honesty. He and his fine cast of three – the exuberant Jamyl Dobson, Leland Fowler, and Edward Mawere – also cut through the heavy topic with some genuinely endearing, at times surprisingly comic performances. one in two makes for an interesting companion piece to The Inheritance, which is currently struggling to find an audience on Broadway. This may be in part because it sweeps some experiences under the rug. one in two completes the picture for audiences.

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ONE IN TWO
Off-Broadway, Play
The New Group / Pershing Square Signature Center
1 hour, 15 minutes (without an intermission)
Closed