"We Are Proud to Present"

By Nolan Leahy

Ball State’s Strother Theatre is premiering its first show of the season “We Are Proud to Present a Presentation about the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884 – 1915,” or “We Are Proud to Present…” for short.

According to Dramatic Publishing, this play has a meta-element — meaning it is a play about actors trying to make a play — to its storytelling. It focuses on a group of actors gathering to organize a show from scratch based on a long-forgotten genocide led by the Germans in the 20th century. The genocide was inflicted upon the Herero people when they rebelled against a German colony. The six nameless actors, with the exception of one named ‘Sarah’, are purposefully divided, as three are black, while three are white.

The play’s director, assistant professor of theatre and dance Veronica Santoyo, said this is one of the riskiest plays she has ever directed.

“I’ve never done a play that thematically seems so risky and hits so close to home,” Santoyo said. “I’ve done theater and I’m used to — I’m originally from Mexico, and there’s a lot of theater there — different things.”

Santoyo said this meta-narrative isn’t entirely new to her with her previous work involving a performance in Shakespeare’s “A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream.” This narrative, however, has no fantasy elements, as it represents a real genocide.

“The narrative of our own bias, prejudices, racial tensions, discrimination and white guilt starts permeating and taking over the actual story. The story becomes a mirror to things that are happening. It’s very telling in the times that we live in right now,” Santoyo said.

She describes the conflict in “We Are Proud to Present…” as “intense.” The show features violence, gunshots, swearing, shouting and mass amounts of arguments across the stage.

The show’s introduction begins with one actor asking the audience by show of hands, “Who knows exactly where their ancestry is from?” It also dives into other possible questions such as, ‘How do we represent historical facts accurately while being fair to the specific facts?’

Santoyo said this play brings up how people communicate in today’s society, when messages are being received with a different intent than the sender meant.

This show doesn’t solely focus on racial disputes, but it also showcases creative prop usage and lighting effects, like when actors use a group of wooden chairs and orange swimming pool noodles to simulate a fire.

After all the showings of the play, there will be a talk session held at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 in the Fine Arts Building, room 217 for anyone who wants to attend.

Tickets are currently on sale. The show will run at 7:30 p.m. September 7-8 and 11-15 and at 2:30 p.m. September 9.