Kansas City playwright Michelle Tyrene Johnson brought her play “The Green Duck Lounge” to the Mizzou New Play Series in February 2017. Now, “The Green Duck Lounge” is being performed in the MU theatre department’s 2017-18 season.
The show takes place in two time periods: first in 2015 and then in 1970. Both plotlines relate to the unsolved murder of Leon Jordan, the owner of the Green Duck Lounge and a well-known civil rights activist.
“The Green Duck Lounge” was selected for full production by the theater department for the relevance of its themes with regards to the 2015 protests at MU, director Claire Syler said.
“The central message of the play is that the same issues have always been there in terms of anti-black racism,” Syler said. “Those varying and competing and sometimes contrasting perspectives are coexisting, and you see them in both eras.”
The themes of the play showcase history’s exclusion of black communities and why these stories cannot afford to be ignored or silenced. Internalized anti-black racism, as well as the ideological and generational differences regarding its solution, are central to the show, Syler said.
Almost every actor plays two different characters, one in each time period.
“I have encouraged the actors not to create two totally separate characters so that the audience can see those characters as coexisting,” Syler said.
This idea of different yet similar characters is especially important for Ethan Phillips, one of the actors.
In the 2015 setting, Phillips plays Darius, a Black Lives Matter activist. In the 1970 setting, he plays Marcus, a member of the Black Panthers.
In creating the characters, Phillips has found that confidence and a deep understanding of the characters’ motivations are key.
“It comes from moments and lots and lots of researching the characters, from reading the script and understanding the reasons why they say things,” Phillips said.
Phillips noted that a key similarity between his characters is their involvement in activism and their ability to stand by what they believe in.
“They’re not the same person in the way of appearance and mindset, but their message is the same,” Phillips said. “A Black Panther and a Black Lives Matter protester are going to go about their recollection of how they want to get things done in two different ways, but it has the same meaning.”
While both the Black Lives Matter and Black Panther movements have related concerns and motivations, Syler said it’s important to prioritize commonalities while making sure they are viewed as distinct movements.
A lobby display with information about Black Lives Matter and the Black Panthers will aid the audience in its understanding of the evolution of civil rights movements, Syler said.
To further emphasize the importance of the show’s message, the second act is a talk-back session with the audience about the themes and issues the play focuses on. Johnson will serve as the moderator for the post-show discussions.
Syler said she hopes the show will generate a useful dialogue about the political climate of MU, the state of Missouri and the country.
“My greatest hope is that the production lingers and is something that stays with them,” Syler said. “It can become a kind of experience that is a resource for learning and growing, particularly in their understanding of anti-black racism in the United States and within Missouri.”
“The Green Duck Lounge” premieres Feb. 21 at the [Rhynsburger Theatre](http://greenduckproject.com/) and runs through Feb 25.
_Edited by Brooke Collier | bcollier@themaneater.com_