Feast on humor, complexity in Platanos and Collard Greens

Simmering Spanish cuisine, countrified soul food and social commentary lured masses to the Student Union Thursday, Feb. 28 for "Platanos and Collard Greens," a Between the Line Production's play layered in complexity.

The off-Broadway show exposes the internalized civil war between Latino and black cultures with seasoned, contemporary humor, serving a reality necessary and easy to swallow.

With a menagerie of sponsorship provided from P.A.C.E. Board, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sabor Latino, Sigma Lambda Beta, Phi Iota Alpha and the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the play served its purpose by provoking thought.

"Did you know Inca and Zulu Kings go together like platanos and collard greens?" Narrator Freeman (Phillip J. Smith) used this opening line as a platform to delve into a bold poem questioning the audacity of solidarity.

The diverse, yet clearly stratified audience, (mostly Latino on the left and black on the right), sitting in the dimly lit Student Union stared back blankly. Not one response was uttered. The revolutionary question manifested into a two and half hour production, zigzagging between racial prophecies and contemporary realities.

The abstract storyline revolves around the hindered love of prideful Freeman, who undergoes "the breaks" with his Puerto Rican girlfriend Angelita (Carissa Jocett Toro). When Angelita is ordered by her mother to stop seeing "dat black boy" all hell, history and racial angst breaks

loose. The brash delivery of this urban West Side Story surged an electric response among the audience.

Students hummed and applauded in agreement as Freeman and the cast discussed society's social and political systems of "pigmentocracy" and "poli-tricks," institutionalized from sea to shining sea through screwball comedy and spoken word.

The simplicity of the set fixed lighting, minimal prop usage and the not-so-super score of random a cappella and off- key Notorious B.I.G. lyrics-in addition to the flamboyant overacting, were eclipsed by underlying truisms. The exaggerated performances compressed urban America into six hood figures, ranging from the hip hop minstrel caricature Okay, to the "heyyy" around-the-way Latin mami Nelsi.

These typecasts reached a pinnacle of counter-production when homeboy serenades home-girl with lyrics like, "While we in the bed, you be screaming 'Hola!' while I be screaming 'Holla!" It was hard-hitting content, like Angelita's later monologue condemning the eroticization of "The Spicy Latina" that kept stereotypes in the play from running rampant.

Audiences were especially floored by the fist-in-air soliloquy of Malady (Renee Marie Brewster). The dynamic diva confronted hip hop, patriarchal structure and misguided women alike with a speech discussing the idolatry of white and light beauty, pleading, "What about my mahogany skin?"

"I appreciated this piece; it was full of truth. This concept of beauty is a real issue black women face. I wish it was touched upon a bit more," junior Marell Ellis said.

"It was a really accurate portrayal. The issues between Haiti and the Dominican Republican [cultures] are never really talked about. Embracement of African ancestry varies, and it's really sad," sophomore Guillermo Cedillo said.

Covering an impressive surface of the massive landscape, "Platanos and Collard Greens" chisels through the complexities dwelling between Latino and black culture, exposing an origin of solidarity, often ignored by the sibling cultures.