First Floor Theater’s “One Party Consent,” with Stephanie Shum and Cynthia Marker/Photo: Michael Brosilow
RECOMMENDED
I love a play that confronts prejudices, shows the other side of an issue and makes the audience squirm with glee. “One Party Consent,” a world premiere presented by First Floor Theater, written by Omer Abbas Salem and directed by Nadya Naumaan, is such a play. Running through March 15 at The Den Theatre, the work examines how diversity, equity and inclusion programs, despite the best of intentions, can make the very people they intend to lift up feel low and marginalized.
Taking place in artfully decorated offices at a prestigious university, Fola (Stephanie Shum), a budding student of East Asian descent with a natural talent for directing theater, confronts her supervisor, dean Ellen Healy (Cynthia Marker), about perceived discrimination toward them and other non-white students. Surprisingly, Dean Healy admits to discrimination—positive discrimination—with the intention to give underserved minority students a disproportionate leg up and “bring color” to the school’s theater program. However, Fola simply wants to be treated like every other student, and responds with activist tactics that are beyond questionable and lead to a tumultuous confrontation with the dean in the office of the school’s human resources manager.
The initial meeting between Dean Healy and Fola lays out everything that can go wrong with a DEI initiative. Fola enters the dean’s office with a chip on their shoulder—more like a boulder—immediately trading snide remarks with soft-spoken assistant Sandra (Ashlyn Lozano) before lobbing accusations of racist typecasting and insensitive curation of plays produced within the theater department. In response, Dean Healy rattles off every buzzword that a responsible white administrator thinks they should say. Instead of helping, the back-and-forth of semantic gymnastics only obscures what each really wants to say. The result is a frustrating tête-à-tête that rises to a fever pitch. And we ain’t seen nothing yet!
First Floor Theater’s “One Party Consent,” with Ashlyn Lozano, Cynthia Marker and Stephanie Shum/Photo: Michael Brosilow
The second half of the play is a study on what not to do when combating perceived injustice. Fola is called into the office of HR manager Ms. Brite, also played by Lozano, who is torn between their concern for the student and their duty to the school. While Ms. Brite empathizes with them, multiple revelations regarding Fola’s brand of activism are too immoral to ignore. As Dean Healy joins them, lies, public humiliation and shady backroom dealings come to light that place the audience in a constantly shifting ethical tug-of-war. Can anti-racism be racist? How far is too far to combat inequality? Might those who criticize DEI initiatives and outrageous social justice warriors actually be onto something? The moral truths of ostensibly open-minded viewers will be put to the test and may change perceptions about what ought to be done regarding social and academic equity.
All this is brought to life by the amazing cast and crew. Shum radiates rage and resentment, and you can almost feel the heat coming off her performance. Marker is the stereotypical “Boss Lady,” coy and hyper-kind until things get real and she lets slip a taste of her true power. Lozano as Sandra is a delightful comedic foil, and as Ms. Brite is the embodiment of a person being torn in half by compassion and obligation. The team of Spencer Donovan (scenic design), Satya Chavez (sound design), Conchita Avitia (lighting design) and Adanna Eziri (props design) create a beautiful yet claustrophobic office environment, with wood-paneled walls that turn into sunlit windows, animated computer screens and supernatural elements—dimming lights and a buzzing sound—that melt into scenes during intense moments.
“Funcomfortable” is an appropriate portmanteau to describe this production, and audiences will laugh, gasp and feel the sting of Salem’s challenging material. Although the new year has barely begun, “One Party Consent” is already a must-see highlight of the season.
“One Party Consent” is presented by First Floor Theater through March 15 at The Den Theatre, 1331 North Milwaukee. Showtimes are Thursday-Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 3pm. Tickets are $10-$35 at firstfloortheater.com.
