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Cover Story
Niceties
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Set at an elite East Coast university during the 2016 presidential primary season, the play features Zoe Reed, an ambitious Black political science major, who meets with her esteemed white history professor, Janine Bosko, to review a draft of a paper about the American Revolution that Zoe has written.
Janine admires Zoe’s word choice but also points out a couple of grammatical issues including a missing comma and lack of parallelism. Zoe assures Janine that they will be corrected in the final draft.
However, when it comes to the thesis of Zoe’s paper, that “A successful American Revolution was only possible because of the existence of slavery,” Janine calls for more than some proof reading, saying it is “fundamentally unsound” and asking for proof.
“They are two very smart, intelligent, liberal women,” Butler said. But the conversation is quickly going to turn into what the Boston Globe called “an explosive confrontation about broader cultural and historical concerns involving race in America, white privilege, and power imbalances on college campuses.”
A highly acclaimed play
The Washington Post called the drama a “barnburner of a play.”
“The Niceties” premiered at The Huntington Theatre Company in Boston in 2018.
For its staging of the two-act play, WCLOC has brought other groups into the conversation. “The Niceties” is being presented in partnership with the Worcester Black History Project and the Worcester Historical Museum.
The audience can also be expected to have some conversations of their own.
Butler, who is directing “The Niceties,” has spoken with Burgess, who told him “ ‘The third act of the play happens in the bar afterward.’”
Some people may be sympathetic to Zoe, others to Janine. Others may simply be shocked.
“It’s a great piece,” Butler said. Burgess is “getting you to ask questions and not providing specific answers. She presents both sides of an argument.”
If “The Niceties” is a debate play, “it’s long overdue for us to have that third act together,” Butler said of discussion.
“Although it’s what I’d refer to as a debate play,” Butler said, “it’s incredibly entertaining and engaging. It’s a play that has a lot of humor.”
Actresses Martha Hultgren, left, and Elizabeth A. Hylton rehearse a scene from the play “The Niceties” as Eric Butler, right, directs at the Worcester County Light Opera Company. RICK CINCLAIR/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE
An important conversation
People attending the 8 p.m. June 18 performance shouldn’t rush to the bar afterward, as there will be a special talkback with the cast and production team moderated by Worcester Black History Project Steering Committee member Xaulanda Thorpe.
The cast features Elizabeth A. Hylton as Zoe and Martha Hultgren as Janine.
“I really enjoyed this piece of art and I think it’s very relevant to the kinds of conversation we’re having right now,” said Hylton. “The conversation can be difficult.”
There can also be a difficulty in comprehending people in a discussion as actual people.
“I like her. I relate a lot to Zoe,” Hylton said.
“Being a Black woman at this time, I can relate to how Zoe feels. She definitely is smart, definitely is well-intentioned. She carries the burden of being a Black woman in America. I can relate to how those burdens play into her thinking.”
Hylton grew up in Shrewsbury, a daughter of parents who were originally from Jamaica.
“The version of history I learned is not the truth. We’re all learning a white-washed version of history,” she said. “We don’t hear the truth about ourselves, then you think about what effect that has on people who are non-Black.”
Butler said that the two characters are engaging and complicated.
“My perspective as a white male directing the piece, I’m not there necessarily to tell the characters or the actresses what to feel and what to think, but allow clarity in the story telling, helping them develop the characters they want to in the rehearsal process,” he said.
Butler said that Hultgren and Hylton are “incredibly dedicated and committed actresses in both roles.”
He’s worked with both of them before, and Hultgren and Hylton each have extensive theater backgrounds. “They’re consummate professionals. I’m so lucky to be working with
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them on this project,” he said.
“We found ways to make each of the characters deeper and easier to relate to. More complicated than they might have been in my initial reading of the play.”
Hylton said, “Rehearsals have been great. Eric (Butler) has been such a great director. It’s definitely been an evolving process. You gain an appreciation for every single moment that happens.”
Hylton graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a degree in theater, and also earned bachelor and master’s degrees in nursing from MGH Institute of Health in Boston. She is a nursing practitioner, and has stayed busy with acting. She is looking to combine theater and nursing by pursuing certification as a drama therapist.
As a Black actor there have been challenges. “Yes, absolutely. But I’ve been lucky lately in making connections with other artists,” she said.
She recently appeared in two one-act plays by Black playwrights presented by Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Hylton said she enjoyed “just the telling of Black stories, just being able to tell the story from a Black perspective.”
“The Niceties” is Hylton’s third show with WCLOC, having previously been seen in “Between Riverside and Crazy” and “Clybourne Park.”
“They’re a great group of people to work with,” she said.
Regarding “The Niceties,” “I hope one thing that people will take away is how important it is to listen to each other,” Hylton said. “I’m hoping that it really does spark some dialogue.”
Butler, who grew up in Worcester, also graduated from Holy Cross where he majored in theater and psychology. He has an MBA from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management and has been involved with development and educational giving and fundraising. He’s also been deeply involved with WCLOC and is a former board president.
Actresses Elizabeth A. Hylton, left, and Martha Hultgren rehearse a scene from the play “The Niceties” at the Worcester County
Light Opera Company. RICK CINCLAIR/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE
Theatric tradition
WCLOC Theater Company goes back to 1937, when it was founded as the Worcester County Light Opera Club and specialized early on in productions of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.
The theater group gradually turned to also including more contemporary musicals, and then straight comedy and drama plays. Butler has said that a strong season seeks balance. In 2018-19, for example, the season included “Clybourne Park” which deals with race and gentrification, the musical “Grey Gardens” and its depiction of an acutely dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship, the romantic comedy “Living on Love,” the musical “Chess,” and a brand new work, the absurdist drama “Liv & Di” by Worcester-born playwright John Dufresne.
WCLOC has long had its own home at 21 Grandview Ave., and a small but charming theater space there, the Grandview Ave. Playhouse.
Once upon a time it was known as the Clubhouse.
Butler said he doesn’t mind at all if people refer to WCLOC as the Worcester County Light Opera Club or Worcester County Light Opera Company and have fond memories of the operettas, but WCLOC Theater Company is now the preferred brand.
These days, “The term light opera scares people away,” Butler said.
Last year, WCLOC’s pandemic activity was “pretty strategic and robust,” he said.
It included an online presentation in June of new one-act plays chosen from submissions by numerous playwrights. In October, WCLOC put on a musical revue outside in the parking lot at 21 Grandview Ave. There was also a children’s workshop and some educational programs, all online.
The new one-act plays presentation was a first-time venture for WCLOC and drew about 500 people, an encouraging enough number for it to be likely repeated. “Next time, fingers crossed, in-person,” Butler said.
In collaborating with the Worcester Black History Project and Worcester Historical Museum for “The Niceties,” Butler said “I’m a firm believer in partnerships. I hope there will be further opportunities as we mount engaging and relevant productions.”
Besides the talkback session following the June 18 perfor-
Black academics share their experiences in ‘Niceties’ discussion
Veer Mudambi
Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
“The Niceties” is more than a theater production — it is representative of authentic lived experiences. In the play, a Black student at a liberal arts college is called into her white professor’s office to discuss her paper about slavery’s effect on the American Revolution. Rather than a disagreement in points of view, it becomes a vital discussion about race, history and power. For the Worcester County Light Opera production at the BrickBox Theater, additional programming was deemed appropriate in the form of a pre-play panel discussion and a post-play talk back with the actors. The audience would gain context and better understand the value of the lived experiences in the socio-cultural frame of reference.
“Worcester Black History Project was invited to be a collaborator and partner in this,” said Cecilia Hylton, a member of the WBHP who supports the play and relevant communications. “Not just the casting and outreach but also ways to expand the programming beyond just the play itself.”
At 7 p.m. June 17, the night before the play opens, WBHP will host “Black Faces in White Spaces,” a live panel discussion. The panelists will be two professors and two students, who will share the experiences of Black Americans in predominantly white institutions (PWIs), particularly higher education and academia. Dr. Nicole Overstreet (Clark University), Professor Maria O’Brien (Boston University School of Law), Shanez’e Johnson (Wellesley College) and Xaulanda Thorpe (Boston University) all studied and worked at well known schools that fit the PWI definition. Kimberly Toney of WBHP will moderate and deliver the questions webinar style, for the approximately hourlong discussion.
“If folks say they’re making efforts to support people in the Black community, then this is a great opportunity for schools to hear firsthand,” said Debbie Hall, founder of the Worcester Black History Project. She went on to say that if schools and other institutions truly want to promote diversity and inclusion, programs such as Black Faces in White Spaces will be valuable tools and help to better implement practices and policies to retain students of color. “If I were a primarily white institution, I’d want to know about this.”
There is no singular experience of Black people in white spaces, said Hylton, so the audience will hear very different stories from each panelist. They will discuss what led them to their university of choice to either teach or study and what they took away from their participation.
After curtains close on opening night, the show will be followed by a talk back session and a chance for cast members to interact with the audience, which will also be streamed for viewers. “The talk back is a way to help with what people will be feeling at the end [of the play] and generate a conversation around what they just saw and have experienced themselves,” said Hylton. Audience members will be given postcards to note down questions or observations during the performance that can be brought up at the talk back. The cast, along
Bottom, from left: “Niceties” cast members Elizabeth Hylton and Martha Hultgren; second row, WBHP members Xaulanda Thorpe, Cecilia Hylton and David Connor; third row: WBHP member Debbie Hall and WCLOC director Eric Butler. DAVID CONNOR, WORCESTER HISTORICAL MUSEUM
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mance, the partnership also incudes “Discovering Black Roots in Worcester,” a free exhibition on view in the lobby of the BrickBox, before and after performances of “The Niceties.” Also, from 7 to 8 p.m. June 17, there will be an online panel discussion “Black Faces in White Spaces: Relating Black Experiences at Predominately White Institutions.”
The BrickBox Theater, which would have had a banner opening last year were it not for the pandemic but has been getting more use recently, is a program of the Worcester Cultural Coalition and managed by The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts.
Butler is also a member of the board of the Worcester Cultural Coalition and so was aware of the availability of the BrickBox to area theater groups.
Inside the BrickBox
The BrickBox Theater is also bigger than the Grandview Ave. Playhouse allowing for more room for spreading out.
“I knew that for the first theater show (since the pandemic) that we did it would be great to in a larger space where people could be socially distanced and people would feel comfortable,” Butler said.
The BrickBox can seat about 290 to 300 people, but for “The Niceties” there will be social distancing with a maximum around 60 to individuals per show, he said.
State regulations concerning performance venues in response to COVID have sometimes changed abruptly. “We had advertised socially distanced pods and we want to make sure we’re honoring that,” Butler said.
The audience will be required to wear masks. “Just for the safety of everyone so everyone feels comfortable. Not the cast, but both of them have been vaccinated. It’s definitely important to create an environment where you can build trust,” he said.
Meanwhile, “We’re excited to have the opportunity to perform in this space,” Butler said.
“We’re using this a little bit as a pilot. We’re open to exploring venues, larger venues and larger casts. We’re thinking of what that can mean to the theater and will definitely be listening to our audience,” Butler said.
“I’m excited about that,” Hylton said of performing at the BrickBox.
“I’m very excited that there’s a new space in Worcester. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to grace that stage as one of the new spaces in Worcester,” she said.
“The Niceties” will be performed at the BrickBox Theater at the JMAC, 20 Franklin St., Worcester, at 8 p.m. June 18, 2 and 8 p.m. June 19, and 2 p.m. June 20. Tickets are $22. “The Niceties” will also be available pre-recorded/Video On Demand from noon June 18 through June 20. Tickets are $11. For more information, visit www.wcloc.org.
Eric Butler directs a rehearsal of the play “The Niceties” at the Worcester County Light Opera Company. RICK CINCLAIR/TELEGRAM &
GAZETTE
Discussion
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with WBHP member Sha-Asia Medina, and Eric Butler, director of the Worcester County Light Opera, will participate in the talk back. The talk back will be moderated by WBHP member Xaulanda Thorpe.
The seeds of the partnership between WCLOC and WBHP can be traced back to about a year ago when Hall met Butler at a BLM mural project downtown. The two discussed the role of the arts in issues such as raising awareness of systemic racism and implicit bias.
While WCLOC could certainly be considered a PWI, it also serves as a model for ways to reach out to brown and Black communities, said Hall. Sometimes such gestures by institutions can feel superficial but in the case of WCLOC, “we have been entrenched and involved in every part of the process,” said Hall. Representing WBHP, she has been involved in the production since the beginning, sitting in on auditions and rehearsals, being consulted as well as providing feedback when necessary.
Hylton attended a rehearsal as well and judged the collaboration a positive experience. Butler’s leadership, she said, “is really driven from a desire to do something that would spark an interesting, catalytic conversation in Worcester.”
Registration for the panel discussion can be found at the WCLOC website and Hylton emphasizes the webinar is open to all. “We really invite those who are interested in listening to and learning from this discussion,” said Hylton. “There is no targeted audience besides those who want to learn.”
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