B.R.O.K.E.N code
B.I.R.D SWITCHING

B.R.O.K.E.N Code B.I.R.D Switching tells the story of a woman tasked with representing a black teenager “from the other side of town” accused of murdering a white man in his sleep. In her search for the truth, she is forced to face her own devastating truths about marriage, race, and the woman she’s chosen to be.

 

The first draft of this play was written in 2007. Before the first black president held office. Before the term “code switching” became part of popular vernacular to speak of the imaginary line people of color must often straddle. Before a police officer knelt the life out of a black man, and the entire world was set ablaze. And yet...The play speaks to the very heart of the conversations being had today. Its relevance now sharpened with time, not dulled. This is the story of a black woman who after unspeakable tragedy, begins to question the foundations on which her life is built....Her marriage to her white husband, the willful ignorance of her social circle, the veil of wealth and privilege of the world in which she has chosen to inhabit, and the injustices that are laid bare when she chooses to look beneath it.

 

Fear, criminality, social and systematic racism are all interwoven in the fabric of the play. It is a story of race and identity, of promise and purpose, but at its core, I believe, it is a story of the potency of being seen. The universal idea of wanting to be seen for who we are. This is explored through the main character's journey, but she also finds this commonality with the youth she is representing. I wanted the play to question our fundamental belief of right and wrong. For us to ask the “why” that leads this boy to where he is and to understand that there are those whose choices aren’t always ones made by them, but for them. The play begs us to look at who he is, to see his dreams and the potential he had for his life and not just the crime that he is accused of committing.

 

The play’s inspiration came from a story I read about a photographer who would sneak into prisons to take pictures of inmates, giving them a chance to be seen. These people that had been cast away and literally kept out of society's view. Made to be invisible. I thought it was so fascinating the parallel that could be drawn between this woman in the midst of personal heartbreak and moral crisis, and this teenage prisoner locked up in a cell for a murder he may or may not have committed. The power of what it means to be seen and the everlasting ramifications when we are not. It is through a photographer's lens that both these characters ultimately find their truth, and it is my hope this play allows us to turn our lens to each other and ask ourselves to not just look but to actually see. When we truly see each other we can finally begin an honest dialogue.