Jackie Sibblies Drury - Fairview

PRAISE FOR FAIRVIEWFairview travels toward the unresolvable, morphing from neatly structured, stereotypical familiarity into rampant chaos and then into fractured, inquisitive aftermath. It begins by giving us something we think weve seen before, then estranges us from it and from ourselves as viewers of it, then cracks the whole thing open entirely and forces everyone in the room, actors and audience, to reckon with the broken pieces With the world that weve built and the racism weve poured into its foundations, will any of us, Drury asks, ever be able to look around us at a view that is, in the truest sense, fair? SARA HOLDREN, NEW YORK/VULTUREFairview argues for the possibility of people of color representing themselves, onstage and off, without an overlay of white perception, judgment and narrative. It gently body-checks privilege. ADAM FELDMAN, TIME OUT NEW YORK It is rare these days to encounter a dramatic performance that unfolds like a work of conceptual art Fairview, a twenty-first-century play with a radical 1960s soul, deconstructs the warping power of the white gaze. CHARLES MCNULTY, LA TIMES It is easy for white people in theater, of which there are many, to talk about making room for nonwhite artistswriters, directors, actors, audience members. It is far more difficult to actually follow through with that.

Making space requires sacrificing your own; listening requires shutting up. Fairview was actively concerned with how to make this happen: Drurys play articulated, first subtly and then less so, the way white audiences infringe on black artists telling their own stories What began as a fairly broad comedy about the Frasier family coming together to celebrate their grandmothers birthday became a searing indictment of how challenging it is for white people like myselfhowever well intentionedto not inflict our perspectives and biases on stories that dont belong to us. There are many ways that theater can have value, and one of them is not necessarily better than the others, but there is something particularly potent about theater that can make you feel this level of unease, especially if you are a member of a group who is rarely made to feel that way. Some plays succeed by giving you comfort; others succeed by getting under your skin. LOUIS PEITZMAN, BUZZFEED NEWS Hilarious, provocative, and disorienting Fairview introduces us to an environment in which reality and personality crash at high speeds, like a theatrical Hadron Collider. Not since Branden Jacobs-Jenkinss An Octoroon has a play so thoroughly traversed the boundaries of race in performance, screwing with our perceptions while forcing us to recognize our blind spots.

ZACHARY STEWART, THEATERMANIA A hugely intelligent play a meticulously crafted, metatheatrical experiment in racial discourse In larger society, such exercises in imagination seem near-impossiblebut maybe, Drury suggests, rehearsing them onstage offers us a dose of the courage we need out in the real world. MIRIAM FELTON-DANSKY, VILLAGE VOICE FAIRVIEW FAIRVIEW A Play JACKIE SIBBLIES DRURY THEATRE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP
NEW YORK
2019 Fairview is copyright 2019 by Jackie Sibblies Drury Fairview is published by Theatre Communications Group, Inc., 520 Eighth Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10018-4156 All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio or television reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that this material, being fully protected under the Copyright Laws of the United States of America and all other countries of the Berne and Universal Copyright Conventions, is subject to a royalty. All rights, including but not limited to, professional, amateur, recording, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio and television broadcasting, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are expressly reserved. Particular emphasis is placed on the question of readings and all uses of this book by educational institutions, permission for which must be secured from the authors representative: Derek Zasky, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, 11 Madison Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10010, (212) 903-1396.

The publication of Fairview by Jackie Sibblies Drury, through TCGs Book Program, is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Special thanks to Jujamcyn Theaters (Jordan Roth, President) for its generous support of this publication. TCG books are exclusively distributed to the book trade by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution. ISBN 978-1-55936-952-7 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-55936-914-5 (ebook) A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Book design and composition by Lisa Govan Cover design by Naomi Usher, Studio Usher Illustration by Adam Hayes & Tyler Sprangler; model is Kara Young First Edition, July 2019 FAIRVIEW PRODUCTION HISTORY Fairview was originally commissioned and produced by Soho Rep. Fairview had its world premiere at Soho Rep. (Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director) in New York on June 17, 2018. (Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director) in New York on June 17, 2018.

It was directed by Sarah Benson. The scenic design was by Mimi Lien, the costume design was by Montana Levi Blanco, the lighting design was by Amith Chandrashaker, the sound design was by Mikaal Sulaiman, the choreography was by Raja Feather Kelly, the prop design was by Ryan Courtney, the hair and wig design was by Cookie Jordan; the fight director was J. David Brimmer, the dramaturg was Madeleine Oldham, the associate director was Garrett Allen, the production stage manager was Terri K. Kohler. The cast was:

BEVERLY	Heather Alicia Simms
DAYTON	Charles Browning
JASMINE	Roslyn Ruff
KEISHA	MaYaa Boateng
SUZE	Hannah Cabell
MACK	Jed Resnick
BETS	Natalia Payne
JIMBO	Luke Robertson

This production opened at Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Tony Taccone, Artistic Director; Susan Medak, Managing Director) on October 4, 2018. Radin. Radin.

The cast also remained the same with the following changes:

BEVERLY	Natalie Venetia Belcon
JASMINE	Chantal Jean-Pierre
KEISHA	Monique Robinson
SUZE	Brooke Bloom

Fairview opened at Theatre for a New Audience (Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director; Dorothy Ryan, Managing Director; Robert E. Buckholz, Board Chair) on June 2, 2019. The cast and creative team were the same as the Soho Rep. production with the following change: the production stage manager was Shane Schnetzler. CAST LIST BEVERLYDAYTONJASMINEKEISHAThen:SUZEMACKBETSJIMBOThen:EVERYONE ACTS . . .

A NOTE Text in [brackets] is optional. A QUOTE Dirty nigger! or simply Look! A Negro! From Black Skin, White Masks, Frantz Fanon This, reversed, is the play, in a way. ACT ONE Lights up on a negro:

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