Black Diamond at Lookingglass

A really strong show at Lookingglass. Depressing how little I know about African politics...



From Chris Jones's Tribune review:

Most beginning playwrights get their first productions in the rough. But even though J. Nicole Brooks' debut drama, "Black Diamond," lies somewhat outside the core aesthetic of the Lookingglass Theatre, this Chicago troupe truly has thrown all of its heart and resources into creating a high-profile, big-budget, fearless, pumped-up, powerfully acted, massively energetic and thoroughly expansive realization of Brooks' eclectic vision. In recent Chicago theater history, at least, no new writer has been better served.

And you can see right away what got Lookingglass so excited.

Not only does "Black Diamond" have a dazzling straight-from-the-news heroine -- the titular leader of a band of young Liberian female freedom fighters anxious to throw off the oppression of real-life dictator Charles Taylor -- but it reveals a young writer with talent. Part the kind of serious geopolitical, neo-feminist drama that one could imagine catching the attention of Angelina Jolie and part sophisticated, post-modern cultural satire in the style of Suzan-Lori Parks or even Quentin Tarantino, "Black Diamond" deftly evokes the bizarre cultural polyglot that seems to make up all modern African wars. Brooks understands that the Liberian conflict was, in part, born in the conflicted, compromised motives behind that nation's historic foundation. And one could say the same, of course, about Iraq, which also pops into mind here, deepening the moment.

More impressive yet, Brooks also captures the kind of jarring African contrasts that show up in movies like "The Last King of Scotland," and that we've all seen, and winced at, on the news for years.

Kids with innocent smiles and AK-47s. Horrific poverty and leaders who live like rap stars. Freedom fighters ignored by America but endlessly in love with Hollywood and hip-hop. "Black Diamond," it feels, just gets that side of modern African war with clear-eyed compassion. And when you add a fearless, zestfully funny visual production (co-directed with great flourish by David Catlin and Brooks herself on a fabulously atrophied African set from Sibyl Wickersheimer), with the emotionally resonant Alana Arenas anchoring the central role, this is one risky, exciting, Chicago show.