Sacrifice

After a lengthy absence from live performance I found my self wedged in a seat at Theater on the Square in Indianapolis. The production was "Sacrifice" , an original and first play from co-writers Marcus May and Caleb Nunez. Both have experience in short films and a life long love of the arts.

The play is about racial tension between two families, one black and one Latino. Leading the Latino family is Ernesto, a building super who's wife was killed many years earlier by a young black male. Ernesto, engagingly played by Joe Vanegas, cannot let go of this life altering experience and as a result has a distrust of African Americans and a prejudice born of pain. His daughter Ana, played by Brittany Crone, views the world through a different lens, one of tolerance and acceptance of diversity. She tries to soften her father's views but to no avail.

Enter the new tenants in the building, the black family father and son Antonio and Trey. When Trey meets Ana sparks begin to fly, unfortunately for Trey his father is a lot like Ernesto. The only thing they agree on is Trey and Ana should stay away from each other. Although Antonio is a successful businessman he has a disdain and profound ignorance concerning the Latino culture. he also doesn't want his star athlete son Trey to become distracted from his collegiate future.

Trey and Ana must fight to overcome their family bigotries and their own busy complicated lives. When Ernesto becomes critically ill with kidney disease the stage is set for painful decisions and some surprises. There are sacrifices on many levels and I'm not one to offer spoilers, so I won't.

The cast is balanced out by Michael Benjamin as Antonio, Trent Hawthorne-Richards as Trey, Jack Huddleston as Mr. Hopkins, Scott Russell as Dr. Turner (Both Huddleston and Russell are the white guys in the play. Representing "the man", each plays the part of asshole to perfection. Huddleston's Hopkins is particularly unpleasant as the stereotypical businessman looking past the plight of his long suffering employee Ernesto.) Janet Maykus and Eliza Creekmur round out the cast, with Maykus turning in a funny and thoroughly entertaining performance as Sammy the slightly kooky and man crazy lady in 2B.

Sacrifice is a good first outing for Mays and Nunez. While I may have a quibble or two with the ending, it's minor and my overall pleasure watching this play outweighs any criticism. The writers and entire cast deserve a tip of the hat and a recommendation to see "Sacrifice" if you ever have the chance. The initial run was two nights and it was sold out.