Local theater tackled thought-provoking topics in 2024

Writers often create works that are either a reflection of the times or cautionary ta-les warning of undesirable future outcomes. Sometimes both. The Greater Lan-sing theater community boasts an embarrassment of riches when it comes to for-ward-thinking boards and directors who embrace their roles in terms of present-ing such stories, challenging audiences with thought-provoking works. In a criti-cal election year, that mission was especially relevant. In February, Riverwalk Theatre presented “The Exonerated” in its Black Box space. The stripped-down theater was the perfect setting for this heartbreaking work about six real-life people who were wrongfully convicted of capital crimes and were eventually released from prison, a bold reminder that justice isn’t al-ways blind. Lansing Community College’s late February/early March production of “The Thanksgiving Play” was a humorous take on the dangers of sanitizing history for the sake of political correctness. In Larissa FastHorse’s script, four white theater types try to create a culturally sensitive play about the first Thanksgiving with no input from a Native American. The play reflects wokeness gone wild and is a cau-tionary tale about trying to do the right thing the wrong way. Later in March, Ixion Theater Ensemble staged Detroit playwright Dominique Morisseau’s “Pipeline,” a harrowing story about a divorced Black mother trying to keep her son out of the school-to-prison pipeline. As prejudice drives decisions that shape a young man’s future, this story shows us how stories like those in “The Exonerated” happen. In April, Peppermint Creek Theatre Co. confronted book banning and civil rights with “Alabama Story.” Based on true events in late-1950s Alabama, State Librari-an Emily Reed resists attempts by the state Legislature to ban a children’s book about a white rabbit marrying a black rabbit. Williamston Theatre closed out the summer with “Predictor,” a highly innovative take on the true story of the development of the first home pregnancy test, which provided women a new level of privacy and self-determination. While funny and poignant, the play also offers some incredibly moving moments, such as when a single woman from the typing pool quietly yet desperately pleads with inventor Meg Crane to get a test following an affair with a married colleague. Williamston followed this with a newly commissioned play, “Thirst,” about the disparities between the poor and the wealthy in the face of a water shortage. Pow-er couple Frank and Florence Doyle play vicious games within their marriage, using poor people of color as their pawns. If the title “Predictor” hadn’t already been taken, it would have been an apt title for this work since we’re entering 2025 with signs that the economic gap will continue to grow in the United States and abroad. In a double-whammy review weekend, I rounded out 2024 with Riverwalk’s “Urinetown” and Peppermint Creek’s “What the Constitution Means to Me.” I saw both the weekend after the November election. Talk about a gut punch. “Urinetown” continued the theme of the rich versus the poor, with an uncomfort-able conclusion that seemed to indicate that control of resources is best left to the elite rather than the unwashed masses. “Constitution” would have been uplifting had the Democrats won the White House, but it instead served as a reminder that, while an impressive set of ideals that guided us pretty well for a long time, the Constitution has fragilities that have been exploited and will likely continue to be exploited in the next term. In summary, area theater companies reminded us this year that when it comes to civil rights, LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights to bodily autonomy, censorship, justice reform and protecting democracy, everything old is new again. Here’s hoping these theater troupes will continue to raise their voices and our awareness in 2025.