Pop culture is so saturated with superheroes that even loving sendups and critical deconstructions have become commonplace. Push the Button, a new musical co-written by Drew Anderson and Dwayne Lawson-Brown (of Spit Dat, D.C.’s longest running open mic, fame), is another sweet and salty iteration on the superhero theme that stands out thanks to a rousing hip-hop score aimed straight at young audiences. Under the direction of Duane Richards II, Keegan Theatre’s production balances that blend of spoof and style nicely, almost to the point of masking the faults in a story that never quite soars.
Set in a town cut straight out of the comics page (and dotted with references to locales in the DMV), Push the Button follows the trial of a dastardly Villain (Tre’mon Mills), who has been locked away for allegedly committing the ultimate sin: pushing a very big, very red, very literal button. While the Villain sneers in solitary, the Hero (Quincy Vicks) soaks up the adulation of the townspeople, played by the fine ensemble of Mitchell Alexander, Brianna Thomas, and Robert Willis. Enter a quick-witted Journalist (Ashanti Symone Branch), whose one-woman quest for truth threatens to upend the tidy narrative that will see the Villain sentenced to life in prison and folks like the crooked Judge (Gary DuBreuil) walking away to their own fame and fortune. As the trial approaches, it becomes clear that it is not just the Villain’s innocence at stake, but the very nature of justice itself.
Translating comics to the stage requires a flair for the fantastical, and, in that sense, Keegan’s production is a success. At first blush, the angular frames and overlaid platforms in Matthew J. Keenan’s set seem too plain for purpose, but they quickly prove an excellent canvas for the design team. Projections designer Zavier Augustus Lee Taylor fills the screens with artfully rendered videos and stills that expand the world of the play and outline it with the sharp lines of Golden Age comics. The floor is illuminated by Alberto Segarra’s vibrant lights and provides a suitable backdrop for Imari Pyles’ costumes, which borrow the skin-tight leotards and impossibly squared double-breasted suits of the early Detective Comics. The cast, ably directed by Richards and choreographed by Branch, fill the stage with cartoonish grandeur that leaves just enough room to bust a move or wink at their own archetypes. They seem free to embrace the show’s over-the-top comedy, and while not every joke lands, the general sense of fun is well suited to the hundreds of local students already packing in for mid-morning matinees.
The show’s slick mix of comics and hip-hop makes an appealing vessel for a story that aims to confront the complexities of justice, media hype, and celebrity worship. Anderson and Lawson-Brown have an ease with blended styles and incisive commentary thanks their previous stage work and their tenure at Spit Dat, which Anderson founded and which they both cohost. Their score is appropriately diverse in its genres and sampling: the “Villain Song,” which riffs on both Lil Uzi Vert and Billie Eilish, is a great solo for Mills, while Vicks earns laughs for sinking his teeth into “Trial Song,” which interpolates and parodies Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open.” While microphone limitations frustrate Lorna Ryan’s sound design and sometimes undercut the performers, particularly in the barnstorming opener “I’ma Save You (Hero Song),” the numbers bring the best out of the cast and elevate a story that stutters from scene to scene.
Despite creditably aiming for complexity, Push the Button concludes on a muddled lesson. As the Villain proclaims of his trial, “it’s not about the truth, it’s about the narrative.” While his point about biased media and institutional discrimination is well taken, it’s also undercut in the aftermath of the trial. Part of that is down to the character’s simplistic motivations and the vague nature of the button itself, which is meant to stand in for all the things that we want to do but are prohibited from indulging, seemingly for no good reason. Without giving too much away, it’s difficult to grasp the true takeaway of this particular narrative when so much has changed by the end that what preceded it hardly seemed to matter at all. Then again, perhaps that is the point.
In any case, the cast and creative team of Push the Button fulfill their brief by bringing a light touch to the superhero genre and all the cred they need to sell Anderson and Lawson-Brown’s score. The show’s attempt to treat fine-grained topics with a broad brush might leave you scratching your head more than you would like, but the beats should get you steppin’ in time.
Push the Button, written by Drew Anderson and Dwayne Lawson-Brown, and directed by Duane Richards II with musical direction by Anderson, runs through April 7 at Keegan Theatre. keegantheatre.com. $40–$55.
Another new band, born and bred in the District, is releasing an EP this weekend. Reid Williams, a local indie-rock artist and bassist for Maryland’s Spring Silver, has formed his own band, Dorinda. They plan to release their debut EP, Time, on Saturday, April 1. To celebrate, Dorinda will headline a sold-out release show at the Pocket that same night. Spring Silver and Rex Pax will open.
“I’m stoked,” Williams tells City Paper. “These people are so talented, and I’m excited to celebrate the EP with my friends.”
Williams has been part of the local music scene for years. Before creating Dorinda, he fronted the band Cool Baby, which dates back to 2015 and his junior year of high school. Even when he was going to college in Asheville, North Carolina, he still came back during school breaks to play with the band. But that project came to an end in 2019 due to a falling out among friends, which caused Williams to deal with immense stress. The band’s breakup and the stress that came with it led to new music, which he would eventually incorporate into Dorinda.
“I think in between Cool Baby and Dorinda, I lost a little bit of my fire,” he says. “This band put a little bit of a battery in my back.”
The end of Cool Baby forced Williams to consider possibly moving to a different music scene, especially since he was still attending school in North Carolina. But ultimately, he decided to return to Prince George’s County because the music scene in D.C., he says, is more in line with what he wants in a creative community.
“When I was thinking about where to go, I remembered how diverse the D.C. music scene was,” Williams says. “It’s not just indie rock at all these shows, and that’s something I value in a DIY scene.”
Though Williams considers Dorinda’s music to be indie rock, he also believes the band explores more than one genre. Their sound incorporates elements of hip-hop, jazz, and soul. Likewise, his bandmates don’t play their instruments in the typical indie-rock style, keybass player Ian Donaldson says. While Williams keeps the main guitar sound similar to what you’d hear in classic rock, the keybass, drums, and cello help diversify Dorinda’s live performances. “There’s a dynamic feel that’s super fun, and the EP that’s about to come out is even more like that,” Donaldson says. “It’s a super cool blend of hip-hop and indie rock.”
Williams credits artists such as King Krule, James Blake, and Still Woozy for influencing his writing process. And there’s also local collaboration. Featuring other D.C. artists is one of the ways Williams incorporates different genres into his sound. One track on the EP features vocals from D.C. rapper WiFiGawd, who Williams paid to record his voice atop the song Williams wrote.
“There are so many cool things happening in every genre that I feel like I’m always going to mix them together,” Williams explains.
Regarding the themes and message of the Time EP, Williams is trying at all costs to avoid making the kind of music he listened to when he was young. Although he still listens to groups such as Nirvana, he’s wary of glorifying self-destructive behavior like drug use.
“There was so much toxicity that was portrayed as cool when I was a kid and it really messed me up,” Williams says. “People were glorifying all this stuff that was ruining my life.”
When it comes to making his own music, Williams wants to write songs that go in the opposite direction tonally while conveying a more positive message.
“I have a really strong appreciation for his songwriting,” drummer Frankie Krause says. “It comes from a wholesome and genuine place.”
“I’ve known [Williams’] songwriting since Cool Baby, and he’s one of the best songwriters I’ve ever met,” adds Donaldson. “So many young people are dealing with mental health issues, and his music is something I feel a lot of them can identify with.”
K Nkanza of Spring Silver, who Williams says encouraged him to write music and start his own project, has heard Dorinda’s music in both its live and recorded versions. They describe the EP as sounding very different from Dorinda’s live shows because the band have incorporated more synth-driven sounds, such as drum machines, into their usual mix of instruments. Dorinda’s live performances, on the other hand, have more of a hard rock ’n’ roll edge, Nkanza says, while also offering a softer R&B side. Nkanza also thinks it’s fitting that Williams is writing optimistic music.
“I think [Williams] is someone who is reaching for positivity in a world that is filled with turmoil,” Nkanza says. “I admire how earnest he is.”
Williams is particularly interested in the reaction to the EP’s title track, “Time,” which is about loving someone, but knowing you’re not ready for a relationship. The album overall is about healing and learning to love others and yourself, which strikes a personal chord with Williams as someone who lived a destructive life as a kid.
Williams is dedicating Time to his mother, the band’s namesake, who is suffering from dementia. She was an actress when she was young, and Williams calls her the most creative one in the family. His mother continues to be an inspiration for him to write music and express himself.
“I think my mom would like to see me doing these things,” Williams says. “A lot of my creativity comes from her, so it feels right to name the band after her.”
Williams will continue to play bass for Spring Silver as he launches his own band. And he’ll actually perform with Spring Silver during Saturday’s EP release show. With help from his bandmates, Williams says the juggling act is going smoothly. Nkanza provides Spring Silver members’ parts via Google Drive, and they require minimal live practices, so Williams has the time to rehearsal with Dorinda. “How it stands now, everything is smooth sailing,” Williams says.
“I love being the bassist for Spring Silver,” Williams adds. “The gigs are a lot of fun, and I love hanging out with the band. It’s been a great privilege to play music with them.”
Dorinda is looking forward to performing their new music at the Pocket for their release show. Afterward, Williams has even bigger plans, including possibly recording a full-length album. But more so, he hopes to inspire anyone who is interested in making music but hasn’t yet found the right motivation.
“I hope more people take a crack at it,” Williams says. “I think anyone can do this, and I hope they realize that when they see us.”
Dorinda, with openers Spring Silver and Rex Pax, perform at 8 p.m. on April 1 at the Pocket. thepocketdc.com. $15. Sold out. Time will be available on all streaming platforms beginning April 1.
There is growing excitement in the meme coin space, captivating crypto fans and traders worldwide. Love Hate Inu, a new meme coin, is poised to become the next best coin to invest in the market in 2023.
Since its entry in mid-March 2023, Love Hate Inu has raised over $2 million in its presale event, with more milestones to smash in the coming weeks. This success has not skipped the notice of crypto investors as they anticipate more price gains in the future.
This post provides interesting details regarding Love Hate Inu, a new voting platform. Thus, it will spur you to invest in this top meme coin and enjoy massive gains in the future.
Love Hate Inu: A Top Contender Ahead of Dogecoin and Shiba Inu
Likely you have heard about meme coins, especially Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. These meme coins have gained popularity through past bull/bear cycles and have earned their spots in the top 20 cryptos.
Despite their successes, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are not backed by real-world utilities which can offer more price gains and market dominance. Instead, they thrive on community support, celebrity hypes, and an eventual bull run.
Well, greener times are here, sure to provide better gains and utility. Love hate Inu is the new meme coin in town, ready to offer the best utility in the space. This feature will undoubtedly rank it higher than other meme coins in the market.
Love Hate Inu combines fun and real-world use cases into one convenient package so that users can have the best experience on the platform. Let’s consider features of Love Hate Inu that are not worth missing out on.
Love Hate Inu is The World’s First Vote-To-Earn Crypto Platform
In setting a pace from the rest of the meme coins, Love Hate Inu is a decentralized platform that invites users to share their views and opinions about any societal issue. By implementing vote-to-earn in its platform, users can express their views through voting and get paid in crypto for doing so.
Love Hate Inu is set to disrupt the multi-billion-dollar survey industry by utilizing blockchain technology on its voting platforms. Blockchain technology ensures that the voting process is tamper-proof and secure. It also provides anonymity while ensuring fair rewards distribution among users.
The platform allows you to participate in polls, in which you can vote anonymously and share opinions freely without fear or prejudice. To fully participate in these polls, you must stake Love Hate Inu’s native tokens, $LHINU, for at least 30 days on the platform.
This staking mechanism secures the system against spammers or cyber criminals seeking to alter the results. After the 30-day staking period, you earn voting power to participate in polls and earn rewards. You can make more voting power when you stake longer and increase your token holdings.
Love Hate Inu Puts The Community First In Its Tokenomics
Great tokenomics make for viable projects, and Love Hate Inu aims to follow that path. Love Hate Inu has a fixed mass supply of 100 billion LHINU tokens, significantly less than Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.
Interestingly, it supplies 90% of its tokens to the community via presale. This fair distribution of 90 billion for the community eliminates the possibility of a rug pull, where developers run off with funds and dump tokens on its investors. The remaining 10% will serve as voting rewards.
Also, the community will have access to their funds and have a share in creating polls and voting on them to earn rewards. Love Hate Inu is certainly community-centric as it aims to be the future of polling.
Love Hate Inu has been impressive so far in the crypto space, and its presale attests to that. It runs its presale event in eight stages and has raised over $2 million. Each stage offers an increment of $0.000005 and allocates 12.5% of its 90 billion tokens.
However, as it is halfway through, more investors hope to partake in the Love Hate Inu presale. Later, there will be possible exchange announcements by the LHINU team. Thus, it will spur investors to get involved in this simple voting project and enjoy better price gains.
Final Thoughts: Join the Future of Polling by Investing in Love Hate Inu
Many crypto experts dub Love Hate Inu as the king of meme coins, surpassing the likes of Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and others. It delivers a novelty approach to earning, employs blockchain technology and staking mechanism against spam attacks, and puts its community first.
These features will undoubtedly make Love Hate Inu excel in the market this year and subsequent ones. So, it would be best not to miss out on its cheap token sales in its ongoing presale. You can purchase Love Hate Inu using Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), and Binance Coin (BNB).
Do not let this lifetime opportunity pass you by; join the Love Hate Inu investment train and prepare for greener times.
If you are not familiar with what Upwork is, it is a freelance site that connects employers looking for tasks to be completed with freelancers who are looking for work. It is successful in the sense that it is a very popular site but there are also a lot of issues with it.
DeeLance (DLANCE) is a crypto project that is going to build a site on its blockchain that will provide a service similar to Upwork but will improve on aspects where the traditional site lets down both employers and employees.
Before we get into exactly what DeeLance is going to offer, let’s first take a look at some of the issues that Upwork and other legacy platforms have.
The recruitment service industry is estimated to be worth over $760 billion annually which is an absolutely staggering number. Freelancing is becoming such a popular method to produce work that some experts have predicted it will replace the traditional 9-5 fixed income as the most popular work style before the end of this century.
The pandemic has helped people and employers realize that commuting to or renting an expensive office isn’t really a necessity. The way internet speed is today means people, in most office jobs, can do their work from anywhere on the planet if they see fit. This has meant many more people have left their fixed jobs to continue their career via freelancing.
This means companies like Upwork are getting a huge amount of business even though they can be quite expensive and have been known to let both sides down on occasion. A particular problem that irks both employers and freelancers is the fees they charge. Employers must pay a flat rate of 5 percent no matter what while it is even worse for freelancers who have a portion of their future income taken.
For example if you wish to charge $14 an hour Upwork might take $3 an hour from you meaning you must up your asking price to $17 to receive the $14 you want. This can cause some freelancers to miss out on work as they have to up their asking price while some employers might be forced to fork out more money than they are comfortable with due to the fees on their side.
Another issue that is commonly complained about is payment times and exchange rates. While Upwork does connect employers and employees they can be very slow to help rectify disputes. This can go both ways. Sometimes an employer is left without any work from the freelancer and sometimes the work is completed but the employer is very slow to pay the freelancer. Ownership can be a sticking topic here as no one is ever quite sure who owns the work.
When payments are made to freelancers there can be issues here too, Upwork generally works through US dollars so anyone using a different currency will have to deal with exchange rates which could mean their overall fee is lower, they also could be charged the exchange rate fee depending how the employer sends the payment.
DeeLance (DLANCE) is a decentralized platform that runs on the Ethereum blockchain. It incorporates web 3.0 technology in order to streamline all the processes traditional sites struggle with. So, let’s look at why employers and freelancers should be looking to make the switch.
We think the highlight of the site is how it utilizes the escrow system for payments for employers and employees. When both the freelancer and employer agree on the work the employer must pay the full fee straight away, however they need not worry about the freelancer running with the money as it will be stored in escrow until the work is completed. This is also great for the freelancer as they won’t have to chase any employers up about payments or face any delays.
The next feature is also to do with payments. Thanks to its decentralized nature, DeeLance can run a peer-to-peer payment system, this means there is no need for third party charges and they can charge much less than legacy sites like Upwork. Currently freelancers will only be charged a 10% fee which is much lower than most sites while the 2% employers charge is the lowest on the market.
As we mentioned ownership can be a difficult thing to define in the freelance world as sometimes people disagree on when property belongs to one party or the other. This is where Web 3.0 technology comes in handy, once the work is completed employers will receive an NFT token. This token will represent that the work they have purchased from the freelancer now belongs to them.
Disputes can be a big factor in freelancing as employers and employees can sometimes have different visions of how the process should go. DeeLance will have a dedicated dispute center set up that will always have a record of previous disputes. This way they will be able to track everyone and make sure any repeat offenders are weeded out.
Finally we come to the Metaverse and the coolest implication of Web 3.0 technology in our opinion. The aforementioned NFTs that are used for work ownership can also be used as avatars that both freelancers and employers can use in the Metaverse. The goal here is to create a sense of community and allow everyone to mix and socialize in a nice environment. A step we think is really going the extra mile.
The great thing about a lot of crypto projects is how they look at an activity or job that has been done a certain way with Web 2.0 technology and say how can we make this better. DeeLance is the perfect example of that. Freelancing as a way to work has exploded in popularity in the last few years and will continue to do so for years to come.
However, it is clear these legacy Web 2.0 sites present a lot of challenges to freelancers and employers, so why do we just put up with them? DeeLance thinks we shouldn’t and through Web 3.0 technology they will show the world that there is a better way. The presale for this token has only just begun but already a lot of hype is growing so interested investors best act now to get the presale price.
ODH has been reporting COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations weekly instead of daily after new infections slowed to a low level after the omicron wave. Over the past seven days, the state averaged around 908 new coronavirus cases per day. The 305 hospitalizations reported by ODH in the past seven days — about 44 per day — dropped from the 352 reported last week, and the 385 hospitalizations in the week prior.
COVID-19 deaths decreased alongside hospitalizations. ODH said 49 people died from the virus, which went below the 55 deaths the previous week and the 67 reported two weeks before.
COVID-19 metric
Total
Change (past 7 days)
Cases
3,421,608
+6,354
Hospitalizations
139,187
+305
Deaths
41,973
+49
*Ohio Department of Health reports weekly on Thursdays.
The number of Ohioans getting COVID-19 vaccinations declined over the past week. Compared to 1,543 in the week before, 852 started the vaccine process. Another 1,459 finished vaccination by getting their second dose, down from 1,688. Around six in 10 Ohioans are partially or fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 metric
Total
Change (past 7 days)
Vaccinations started (one dose)
7,578,251
+852
– % of all Ohioans
64.83%
– % of Ohioans 5+
68.30%
Vaccinations completed (two doses)
7,026,848
+1,459
– % of all Ohioans
60.11%
– % of Ohioans 5+
63.53%
*Ohio Department of Health reports weekly on Thursdays.
Plenty of artists have a side hustle, but few can claim a dual career as successful and distinctive as that of Cherokee playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle. In addition to crafting hit plays that have appeared at major theaters across the country, Nagle is an acclaimed litigator who counts the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center among her clients. Nagle frequently weaves her artistic and legal practices together, whether by incorporating her experience advocating on behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe into her play Crossing Mnisose or crafting pieces such as Sliver of a Full Moon, which was presented at both the Yale Law School and the United Nations.
In her latest theatrical venture, Nagle tackles a subject especially close to home: The story of Jean Chaudhuri, the mother-in-law she never knew, which premieres at Round House Theatre this spring. “The more I learned about her, the more I’m sad I never got to meet her,” Nagle tells City Paper. “Although, having gone on the journey with this play, I feel like in some ways I have.”
Local theatergoers will also get to know Chaudhuri through Nagle’s one-woman show On the Far End, part of the second annual Capital New Play Festival running March 30 through May 7 in Bethesda. Born into the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma as Ella Jean Hill, Jean attended one of many boarding schools that sought to inculcate Native children into mainstream (read: White American) society. The legacy of those schools became a feature of Jean’s activism in Arizona, where she eventually settled with her husband Joyotpaul Chaudhuri, who escaped the unrest following the 1947 Partition of India before coming to the United States. Over the course of her career, Jean founded and chaired several advocacy organizations, oversaw the establishment of the first off-reservation Native health clinic in Tucson, Arizona, and earned such distinctions as the American Institute of Public Service’s Jefferson Medal in 1977, as well as several posthumous commendations following her death in 1997.
Jean Chaudhuri, courtesy of Mary Kathryn Nagle and Jonodev Chaudhuri
One of Jean’s signature accomplishments was establishing the Native American Heritage Preservation Coalition in 1986, which fended off efforts to develop lands that once housed a Native boarding school in Phoenix; she subsequently helped preserve those lands for public use in 1992. That victory required the kind of humble work her son Jonodev Chaudhuri, ambassador for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma and former Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, deeply admires. “The humility aspect of activism was very much part of Mom’s belief system, the family’s belief system,” he explains, “one in which you’re very comfortable working behind the scenes and you only put yourself forward if you have to.”
In Nagle, Chaudhuri found a partner who embodied many of his mother’s qualities. The pair connected at the Federal Indian Law Conference in 2018. Nagle was smitten after seeing Chaudhuri speak; Chaudhuri, meanwhile, had already taken notice of Nagle’s burgeoning careers in theater and law. “Somebody who can file briefs in the Supreme Court, but also use plays to change people’s hearts and minds,” he beams, “that’s a real left-brain, right-brain combination you rarely find.”
Ironically, Chaudhuri had missed Arena Stage’s production of Nagle’s play Sovereignty earlier that year. “Everybody else who is Native in D.C. went to see my play except him; he had TV shows to watch at night,” Nagle teases. Nevertheless, the two hit it off over coffee, got married, and now live together in the D.C. area.
As Nagle continued to build a career drawing from a range of Native histories and experiences, Chaudhuri pushed her to add a Muscogee story to her CV. He even had the perfect subject: Jean, who also happened to be an accomplished playwright, storyteller, and speaker in her own right. But it was not until the couple got some “good medicine,” as Chaudhuri describes it, that the idea really took off. Unbeknownst to Chaudhuri or his brother Joydev (who goes by Paul), their father had written a biography on Jean, which a family friend discovered while looking for their father’s will after his death in 2020. It quickly became an invaluable source document for Nagle.
Despite his excitement, Chaudhuri chose to keep his distance while Nagle drafted the play and developed it at Round House. “It’s actually better for me not to have anything to do with anything because MK knows what she’s doing, and the theater knows what they’re doing,” he says. As is often the case, certain details of Jean’s life need to be adjusted, rearranged, and even cut for the purposes of the story. Jean’s sister Richinda, for example, was a major figure in her life but is rarely mentioned in the play. There was also some question as to how much of Jean’s personal struggles the play should cover. “MK and I came down on the side of airing the details of those difficult periods,” says Chaudhuri, who believes his mother’s story can inspire young activists to persevere and to continue to do the hard work behind the scenes and offline. “We want kids to know that these are life challenges that everybody faces,” Chaudhuri adds.
Telling such a personal story, written from a perspective rarely seen on predominantly White American stages, in a regional theater setting is not without its challenges. In Nagle’s case, it often requires explaining to her collaborators that she might have a different storytelling logic than what they’re accustomed to. “In a lot of Native cultures, we don’t see time as linear as maybe other cultures do,” she offers by way of illustration.
Chaudhuri adds that expectations can be very different in the Muscogee world. Telling the traditional creation story, for example, is a significant aspect of their annual Green Corn Ceremony, which corresponds to the Muscogee new year. “As a member of the grounds, especially if you can’t speak Creek, you just sit there until it’s done. Sometimes it can take hours. It’s a different approach to the conveyance of knowledge and values in the Creek world than it is in the theater world.”
For their part, the team at Round House, which commissioned On the Far End and included a public reading of it at last year’s Capital New Play Festival, takes their responsibilities very seriously. Dramaturg and Round House Associate Artist Naysan Mojgani, who also serves as festival producer, deliberately downplays the supposed role of dramaturg as “the most knowledgeable person in the room.”
Mary Kathryn Nagle and Jonodev Chaudhuri
“The reality is, I don’t know what it is to be an Indigenous person in this country,” he says. “At the end of the day, there is a real responsibility to be respectful and bear in mind that I am a guest in this space, and there are other people involved who will know the material and the experience better than I ever will.” To that end, the team has incorporated the insights of Muscogee cultural consultant Paskova Deere, who also happens to be a good friend of Nagle’s.
Among the most significant voices in the room is that of director Margot Bodelon. A specialist in working on new plays, Bordelon is comfortable having the playwright present in what she calls a “co-captain” role. She sees herself first and foremost serving Nagle’s vision. “It’s the director’s responsibility to make the production that the playwright envisions for a first pass—they deserve that.” Sometimes, however, alternative interpretive decisions become necessary, and every rehearsal process throws up new challenges. On the Far End is no exception: two weeks before previews, the production’s original (and only) star bowed out for personal reasons, leaving Nagle to take on the role. Thankfully, she’s in good hands: Bordelon has a background in solo performance and is intimately familiar with the challenge of a single actor needing to hold an audience’s attention on their own.
Above all, Bordelon is attuned to the political importance of the work. This includes not only bringing an understudied topic of American history to the fore—“I feel like I grew up learning about the Japanese internment camps and the Holocaust and even things that happened in Russia on the Steppe, but we never learned about Native American boarding schools,” she says—but wrestling with a difficult collective past. In that sense, it all comes down to Nagle’s two-pronged personal and artistic mission “to get out the argument.”
As members of the small world of Native law, Nagle and Chaudhuri, who runs a small legal practice in addition to his ambassadorial work, are always having to make the argument for Native sovereignty. In addition to charting Jean’s personal and professional life, Nagle frames On the Far End within the context of McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020), a landmark case that upheld the jurisdiction of tribal courts in eastern Oklahoma, including in cases involving non-Natives who commit crimes on tribal lands. Nagle also played a pivotal role in securing the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2022, this time with added protections for tribal sovereignty. Both developments were major victories for Nagle, Chaudhuri, and their colleagues, but were swiftly undermined by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Castro Huerta v. Oklahoma (2022), which effectively reinstated state and federal jurisdiction over the very same lands McGirt had protected.
For Chaudhuri, this legal back and forth is all business as usual. “You do feel like you’re caught in that Groundhog Day movie where you’re fighting the same battles and some of the same false narratives that our great-great-great-great grandfathers fought,” he says of the Castro Huerta ruling. “It’s frustrating on some levels, but it’s heartening to know that your great-great-great-great-grandfathers relied on their ancestors to fight their battles as well.”
In On the Far End, Nagle and the team at Round House Theatre help Chaudhuri’s mother take her rightful place among the ancestors who will continue to inspire those others to keep on fighting the good fight.
On the Far End, written by Mary Kathryn Nagle and directed by Margot Bordelon, makes its world premiere run April 1 through May 7 at Round House Theatre in Bethesda. roundhousetheatre.org. $39–$81; pay what you can tickets available.
