Tag: arena stage

This post is written by UHP students Rachel Roberts and Tigan Woolson.

On Thursday, February 6, 2014, Professor Vann’s Arts and Humanities class,  Alienation and Appropriation: The Political Power of Art in the Abrahamic Religions from the Holy Land to al-Andalus and Beyond, went to the Arena Stage to see The Tallest Tree in the Forest.
This one-man show presents the life of Paul Robeson, a Black singer, actor, and activist. Robeson’s life and work are an awe-inspiring testament to a man committed to his cause before he had a movement to support him.  His story is not well-known to the general American public due to the backlash he received for his outspoken participation in the race and labor movements in the US and abroad, and for his alleged Communist affiliation. Author and star Daniel Beaty opens the second act with an insightful monologue about the nature of “comfortable black history” attributed to Jamal Joseph, a film professor at Columbia. The music that was included in the show, all performed live, added a dimensionality that only improved the already impressive and powerful performance.
The Tallest Tree in the Forest explored the concept of what makes a hero, his legacy, and how the conceptual idea of a hero has developed according to previously existing archetypes, one of the focuses of the course. Robeson’s life, which seems to adhere to our expectations of  a civil rights hero, was not viewed as heroic however due to his political affiliations and race, and the fact that the results of his efforts would take years after his death to manifest, after he had been mostly written out of history.  The double standard that is held for individuals according to their race, religion, and political affiliations is underscored throughout the play. The play is structured as an old man’s recounting of a life filled with victories, loses and regrets, celebrating Robeson while acknowledging his shortcomings as a man and as an activist. This exploration of an unsung hero provided an interesting contrast to the heroes that the class has been studying, who by the very nature of us studying their narratives centuries later, though multiple interpretations, are classically heroes. There are certainly traits that all typical heroes adhere to, however, one can only see these persons as heroes should we already believe they are capable of being considered as heroes, and when they can be directly, visibly attached to major victories. Paul Robeson however, due to his race, labor dialogue, and alleged political affiliations, was prevented from entering history as a hero, but rather established the basis for a national perception of later civil rights leaders that have been canonized in the mainstream.