‘Admissions’: Flight of the white knight

By Ian D. Loomis
Contributor

On every college application, extracurricular sign-up and even my birth certificate, I have without fail (and with the encouragement of my parents) always ticked the box identifying myself as “Hispanic.” Despite my looks, I am in fact part-Mexican, and my parents said I should take every advantage at my disposal—including the influential kudzu of affirmative action.

But that’s just the thing—I don’t look Hispanic. I look as white as all of “Full House” combined.

So: what does this mean? If my looks or my name don’t seem “person-of-color” enough to be seen in an admissions pamphlet, does that vindicate years worth of racial slurs flung at my dad, since his son never fit the bill of “Mexican?” Who decides who is worthy of such a title, and what are the weights that are bogged down with being the victim or the culprit?

This is precisely the simultaneously startling and multifaceted issue that’s covered so thoroughly in “Admissions,” a recent play by Joshua Harmon. The play is the most recent addition to the repertoire of Ann Arbor-based Theatre Nova, which started performances in September and runs to Oct. 13.

“Admissions,” a play about the subtlest of racial injustices, put on by an all-white cast, written by a white playwright and reviewed by the pastiest fellow you’ll ever meet, is meta beyond words; it might just be the perfect way to tackle it.

The premise follows uber-liberal white couple Sherri and Bill (played by Diane Hill and Joe Bailey, respectively), deans at a prestigious prep boarding school, who hyperfixate on and celebrate the steadily growing minority population of the school they manage by prioritizing their candidates of color.

However, when their son Charlie (Jeremy Kucharek) is deferred from Yale and his biracial friend Perry—who is only talked about in the show, yet never seen—is accepted, the stubborn family begins to question their own prejudices and the validity of forfeiting your seat at the table for somebody else.

As is the standard with Nova, the set and cast were both phenomenal. Staged on a swiveling rostrum that seamlessly swaps between an admissions office and a well-off family’s kitchen and performed by, as aforementioned, a mostly middle-aged and all-white cast, the most astounding performance was actually from the youngest actor—Kucharek. Hr expertly and spitefully spits out a lengthy but jaw-dropping monologue that, at last, puts my thoughts into words on why people decide who is a minority and who isn’t with such jurisdiction and endorsement.

Thorough and eye-opening, Admissions is one of the—dare I say—”wokest” plays that’s ever graced Theatre Nova’s stage, and possibly any, stage. If you’re for or against Affirmative Action, this play covers the board and is invaluable to any questioning youth’s theatre-going experience: the hypocritical and self-congratulatory flight of the white knight.

The play will perform at Theatre Nova on 410 W. Huron St. until Oct. 13 with a show each Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Visit theatrenova.org for more information.

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