The Performing Arts and Concert Series offers the comedic play N*GGER WETB*CK CH*NK as a special add-on.
As a special addition to the Performing Arts and Concert Series, N*W*C is visiting Ohio University to prompt laughter and a dialogue on diversity.
N*W*C, which stands for N*GGER WETB*CK CH*NK, is an autobiographical play coming to Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on Thursday at 7 p.m. The play, which has toured 42 states and visited 140 colleges and universities, stars Rafael Agustín, Dionysio Basco and Jackson McQueen.
“It is a comedy show first and foremost,” Agustín, co-writer of the play and actor, said.
The original co-writers for the script, Agustin, Allan Axibal, Miles Gregley, Liesel Reinhart and Steven T. Seagle, chose a comedic play as a lighthearted way to address a serious topic. N*W*C uses personal stories to address racial slurs, stereotypes and concept of race.
“Laughter is a great way to build community,” Agustín said. “Race is a social construct. It doesn’t exist, but racism is real.”
The name of the show tends to prompt some initial negativity due to its bluntness. However, Agustin said the purpose of using the derogatory words so straightforwardly is the reclaim them.
“We’re taking (them) back and creating something with them, (turning) them into art,” Agustín said.
The original co-writers and actors wrote true accounts of the alienation they felt in their own lives.
Agustín, the only original writer to remain touring, shares his personal background with undocumented immigration in the show.
The original actors had doubts about continuing the show with a script describing their personal experiences, Basco said. However, when Basco first read the play, he said, it spoke to a universal, relatable truth and wasn't individual to the original actors.
“That was my story,” Basco said.
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After moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting, he felt the effects of racism in his own life. Being Asian, he was turned down parts as lead characters. Racism in the industry never allowed him to play the love interest to the white lead, he said.
McQueen, the third of the threes actors, shares a similar story. In the show he speaks of his character’s first experience hearing the N-word while reading Huckleberry Finn outloud in class.
“My experience was alienation,” he said.
The purpose of these personal stories is to put faces to these issues of race and diversity that are often framed in an impersonal way, Basco said. It is meant to humanize the discussion, he added.
There is no one message in the play. It touches on a variety of themes and topics in order to prompt thought and discussion.
“As with any work of art … you want people to take away what they will,” Agustín said.
At first, the play was presented in performing arts centers across the country, but usually with an affluent and white audience. This led to the current college tour.
“We felt we had to go back and speak for our generation,” Agustín said.
The actors collectively said the play has offered entertainment and education to audiences, but also personal growth to the actors.
“It has helped me to break down my own (prejudices),” Basco said.
An experience that stood out to McQueen was meeting one older white couple after the show. The woman came over hesitantly and asked to shake his hand. He was the first black person she had ever had the courage to approach with this question, he said. Instead of a handshake, he offered a hug.
“The show just affects people,” McQueen said.
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