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El Silencio Grande
I sought to communicate Parks’ critique of racism and xenophobia by setting the play in a museum where the racialized Black body of El Silencio Grande (the title character) is performatively displayed as a living sculpture; for this, I guided and collaborated with the actors to create a series of tableaux that highlighted the character’s dignity, perseverance, and humanity. I further sought to embody the play’s themes by helping the two supporting actors encode the roles of Tourist 1 and Tourist 2 as racially and economically privileged, white cultural consumers. This choice suited the playwright’s intentions as the Tourists repeatedly try to dehumanize El Silencio Grande with objectifying and xenophobic remarks. At the end of the play, the Tourists wither and grow ancient until nurses wheel them offstage in wheelchairs. El Silencio Grande remains.