By Ashlei Havili Thomas
Plan-B Theatre’s world-premiere production of Carleton Bluford’s THE CLEAN-UP PROJECT at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center takes a hard look at what might happen when the problems of America’s present catch up to us. Performed in the Studio Theater, the black box space is sparse, the only set a chair, bench, some cinderblocks and a house’s floor plan mapped out in white. In order to protect the staff and performers, proof of vaccination (either CDC card or Docket are acceptable) and either KN95 or N95 masks are required at all times while in the building (masks are available if audience members don’t have one). The theater is also filled at only half capacity, with a maximum audience of 32. While in-person tickets are sold out, the theater offers digital viewing for each performance. In this reviewer’s opinion, this show is the best they’ve seen in a decade, and one that Utah desperately needs.
THE CLEAN-UP PROJECT takes place in the near future, after a group called “the Obsidian Order” overthrows the government. In this dystopian future, racial tensions are turned on their heads with the white American population being brought under martial law. Jordan and Melvin (a Black couple) are home watching TV when their friends Ryan and Taylor arrive at their door fleeing from the Obsidian Order. Not long after, Cameron (a friend of Jordan and Melvin’s turned sergeant for the Order) and Chris—his supervisor—arrive and announce “The Clean-Up Project,” the eradication of all white Americans. They then force Jordan and Melvin to choose either their friends or their life. Which will they choose? And do Ryan and Taylor understand the oppression Black America has suffered to push it to this point?
The entire cast of six actors work together as a seamless ensemble. Every movement and change of tableau is precise and intentional, allowing the audience to be completely immersed in the world they’ve created. Latoya Cameron (Jordan) is a powerhouse, giving the audience so many levels and emotions while navigating the complexities of her character’s inner turmoil with killer accuracy. Chris Curlett (Melvin) is the perfect support to Cameron’s Jordan and a well-grounded foil to Matt Sincell’s Ryan. Sincell is raw, showing Ryan’s confusion and frustration with his plight as a “well-meaning white man” and his grasping need for dignity and a continued “state of peace.” Calbert Beck as Cameron is the epitome of stereotypical “blackness” and bravado while maintaining an undercurrent of worry for his friends. Beck seems like the antagonist for most of the play, but eventually the audience realizes he is just the pawn in Dee-Dee Darby-Duffin’s (Chris’) game. Darby-Duffin is masterful in her performance, a spider orchestrating each character’s unraveling and then tearing them (and the audience) to ribbons. The entire cast keeps the audience’s heart in the palm of their hand and then mercilessly pours in the entirety of their anger and despair, leaving the audience (at the end of the play) wondering if they are the monsters or if they are the prey.
While the designs were simple, each element is used to utter perfection. The lighting design by Emma Eugene Belnap uses a combination of five large bare incandescent lights hung low over the acting space and LED stage lights set across the edges of the theatre. While most of the lighting is basic, covering the entire acting space, Eugene Belnap’s design creates harsh shadows and pulsating darkness at key points in the show, adding to the audience’s feeling of uneasiness. Derek Williamson’s costume design contrasts two very simple costuming choices (the two couples) with one more elaborate design (the Obsidian Order members). While such a contrast seems startling, it pulls focus to Darby-Duffin’s and Beck’s characters, making it impossible to forget both are present in all the conversations. Williamson’s design also highlights the difference between the two couples in a more subtle way, further emphasizing the divide between them. As previously mentioned, Janice Chan’s set design is simple but effective, allowing the acting and directing by Jerry Rapier to take the audience’s focus. Though not immediately obvious, with such intense emotions and conversations being carried out onstage (as well as onstage violence), the intimacy director Kimi Handa Brown’s influence is evident in the comfortability of the actors with such personal, intense subject matter.
While the reader may choose to watch Plan-B’s THE CLEAN-UP PROJECT from the comfort of their home (as in-person seating is sold out), this play is not suitable for children and young teens. Because this play tackles topics of racial injustice, oppression, racial violence, and genocide, it is prudent for audience members to make sure they are able to handle the performance without risking their own mental health. Warnings aside, there cannot be enough emphasis on the timeliness, importance and excellence of this production. Included in the script is a tribute to Izzy Tichenor, a local ten-year-old Black girl who took her own life due to bullying in Utah schools. This is not an easy play to watch. This is not a feel-good show with glamor and sparkle. This is a show to make you think and re-evaluate. It’s a show that made this reviewer feel, as a person of color, seen and heard, addressing some of the dilemmas faced by racial minorities in America. Utah needs this play. Are you willing to watch and listen?
Plan-B Theatre presents THE CLEAN-UP PROJECT by Carleton Bluford at the Studio Theater in the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center.
Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W Broadway, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Feb 17-19, 24-26, 2022 at 8:00 PM, Feb 19 at 4:00 PM (ASL interpreted performance), Feb 26 at 4:00 PM (sensory-friendly performance), Feb 20 & 27 at 2:00 PM. Streaming on-demand available Feb 23-27.
Tickets (Virtual): $25
Online Waitlist for in-person tickets
Plan-B Theatre website
Plan-B Theatre Facebook page
Photo credit: Sharah Meservy
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