If America were a king in a Greek play, his tragedy—the circumstance he can’t evade, the sin for which he can never atone—would be slavery. For all its horror, the subjugation of Native Americans can be viewed as a tectonic motion of history. One plate sliding bloodily over the other. Slavery was a business strategy. Sure, plenty of us think the Civil War paid the price for black servitude in lives, money, and legislation. But as events from the assassination of Abraham Lincoln right on through to the demonization of Barack Obama and the choking of Eric Garner attest, the War Between the States was just the gods’ way of warming up.
Because of Graham’s cagey dramatic structure, it takes a while to realize that something very bad has happened, that one of Roz’s students is responsible, and that Ray isn’t riding the bus to cut down on carbon emissions. He’s en route to revenge, you might say. And, in his fastidiousness, he’s worked out an elaborate plan to get it, the linchpin of which is one of his fellow riders: a young, black woman named Shatique.
Patrese D. McClaine doesn’t back down in the face of Guinan’s onslaught. Far more than the sum of her cliches, McClain’s Shatique is appalled at Ray but capable of meeting him on equal terms of rage.
Through 2/28: Tue and Thu 7:30 PM, Wed 1 and 7:30 PM, Fri 8 PM, Sat 2:30 and 8 PM, Sun 2:30 and 7 PM Northlight Theatre, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie 847-673-6300northlight.org $25-$78
