PBS News Hour

>> IS IT TOO SOON TO EXPLORE THE PANDEMIC THROUGH ART?

NOT IF YOU'RE SUZAN-LORI PARKS, WHO WROTE A SHORT 'PLAY A DAY' WHILE SITTING AT HOME FOR 13 MONTHS AND HAS NOW TURNED THOSE INTO A FULL-LENGTH PERFORMANCE AT NEW YORK'S PUBLIC THEATER.

IT'S PART OF A "VERY BIG YEAR" FOR ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S MOST #*ACCLAIMED PLAYWRIGHTS.

JEFFREY BROWN HAS THE STORY FOR OUR ARTS AND CULTURE SERIES, CANVAS.

"I PLAY THE WRITER" >> SUZAN-LORI PARKS BOTH PLAYS AND IS THE WRITER OF "PLAYS FOR THE PLAGUE YEAR", A SERIES OF SONGS AND SCENES.

SMALL PERSONAL MOMENTS AND BIG COLLECTIVE TRAUMAS THAT TAKE US THROUGH THE FIRST YEAR OF THE COVID PANDEMIC.

IT'S BASED ON AN ASSIGNMENT PARKS GAVE HERSELF IN REAL TIME: BE PRESENT, OBSERVE, WRITE EVERY DAY.

>> IT'S A WAY TO KEEP WATCH, IF YOU WILL.

YOU KNOW, IT'S A WAY TO BEAR WITNESS.

IT'S A WAY TO SAY, 'YES, THIS HAPPENED.

I'M WATCHING AND I'M GOING TO WRITE IT DOWN.'

>> IT'S ALSO ABOUT THE ROLES WE ALL PLAY EVERY DAY.

AND FOR PARKS - WHO OFTEN WRITES ON AN OLD RED TYPEWRITER.

IT REALLY IS A NEW ROLE: FOR THE FIRST TIME SHE HERSELF ACTS AND SINGS AND PLAYS GUITAR IN ONE OF HER PLAYS.

>> DID YOU HAVE ANY FEAR, TREPIDATION, PUTTING YOURSELF INTO THE STORY LIKE THIS?

PARKS: YES.

I HAVE SO MUCH FEAR.

SO MUCH TREPIDATION.

AND ONE THING THAT I THINK A LOT OF US REALIZED DURING THE FIRST YEAR OR SO OF THE PANDEMIC IS THAT THERE WERE THINGS WE WERE AFRAID OF, ARE AFRAID OF, ADN THAT WE HAD TO REALLY LOOK AT THOSE THINGS.

AND SO I LOOKED AT A LOT OF THOSE THINGS AND ONE OF THEM WAS, 'OH, I'M PUTTING MYSELF IN THE STORY, >> NOW 59, PARKS IS BEST KNOWN FOR HER PLAY, "TOPDOG / UNDERDOG", IN WHICH TWO BROTHERS, NAMED 'LINCOLN' AND 'BOOTH', ARE BOUND BY FAMILY TIES AND THE BURDEN OF AMERICAN HISTORY.

IT WON THE 2002 PULITZER PRIZE FOR DRAMA, MAKING PARKS THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN TO RECEIVE THAT HONOR, AND LAST FALL HAD A 20TH ANNIVERSARY REVIVAL ON BROADWAY.

PART OF A BUSY, ATTENTION-GETTING YEAR FOR PARKS THAT INCLUDED HER THEATER ADAPTATION OF THE 1972 HIT REGGAE FILM, "THE HARDER THEY COME".

AND A NEW PLAY PREMIERED AT MINNEAPOLIS' GUTHRIE THEATER TITLED "SALLY & TOM" - THAT'S SALLY HEMINGS AND THOMAS JEFFERSON - SET IN BOTH PAST AND PRESENT.

"PLAYS FOR THE PLAGUE YEAR", PRODUCED AT NEW YORK'S "PUBLIC THEATER", IS HER MOST PERSONAL YET AND INCLUDES EXPERIENCES AT HOME WITH HER REAL-LIFE HUSBAND, CHRISTIAN KONOPKA AND THEIR SON, NOW 11 YEAR OLD DURHAM, WHO'S SUDDENLY AS TALL AS HIS MOTHER.

THEY AND MANY OTHER ACTUAL PEOPLE ARE PORTRAYED ONSTAGE BY A GROUP OF ACTORS WHO TAKE A VARIETY OF ROLES IN SHORT 'PLAYS' THAT UNFOLD CHRONOLOGICALLY.

>> IT'S REALLY A CELEBRATION OF EVERYDAY THINGS, WHATEVER WAS HAPPENING.

MY OFFICE IS AT THE KITCHEN TABLE IN OUR ONE BEDROOM APARTMENT, SO I WAS WRITING AT ONE END OF THE KITCHEN TABLE, AT THE OTHER END OF THE KITCHEN TABLE THERE WAS OUR THEN EIGHT YEAR OLD SON WHO WAS DOING REMOTE SCHOOLING LIKE SO MANY KIDS, AND HE WAS HAVING HIS REMOTE SCHOOLING THINGS HAPPEN, YOU KNOW, ALL THAT KIND OF GLITCHING AND ALL THIS STUFF AND TRYING TO GET USED TO IT.

SO THE PLAY MIGHT BE ABOUT THAT.

>> ALSO GIVEN VOICE ONSTAGE: A NUMBER OF THOSE LOST DURING THE PANDEMIC, PARKS HAS HONORED THEM WITH THEIR OWN SHORT SCENES.

AND THE SOCIAL JUSTICE PKROTESTS AFTER THE KILLINGS OF BREONNA TAYLOR AND GEORGE FLOYD.

>> A LOT OF PEOPLE, IN THIS COUNTRY ESPECIALLY, WE THINK THAT TO GRIEVE, YOU KNOW, BAD THINGS, WOULD BRING US DOWN.

THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE.

WHEN WE LOOK WITH LOVE AND WITH INTEREST AND CURIOSITY TOWARDS SOMETHING THAT, SOMETHING DIFFICULT THAT HAPPENED, WE ARE RELEASED FROM ITS POWER TO WEIGH US DOWN.

>> BUT YOUR WAY TO DO THAT AS A PLAYWRIGHT IS TO WRITE THEM INTO THE PLAY AND BRING THEM ONSTAGE.

PARKS: WELL, YES.

THAT'S THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS.

>> THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS OR THE THEATER WORLD?

>> WELL, ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE.

THE WRITER WRITES THEM INTO THE PLAY.

THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE.

WE'VE BEEN WRITTEN INTO A PLAY.

ISN'T IT FUN?

THE TWO OF US?

PARKS: SURE >> THIS IS A PLAY, RIGHT?

>> PARKS: SURE, YEAH, I MEAN WE'RE WRITING IT TOGETHER, WITH ALL, WITH EVERYBODY AROUND WHO'S HELPING.

YEAH.

THIS IS WHAT IT IS.

>> THAT FEELS LIKE A GOOD DEFINITION OF ALL PARKS' WORK, IN FACT: EXPLORING HOW OUR INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE REALITY IS MADE.

ONE GUIDE IN SHAPING THAT APPROACH: NONE OTHER THAN JAMES BALDWIN, WHO FIRST SUGGESTED TO PARKS, THEN IN COLLEGE AND WRITING SHORT STORIES, THAT SHE TRY WRITING A PLAY.

>> I NEVER WOULD HAVE GOTTEN INTO PLAYWRITING HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR MR. BALDWIN >> THAT IS A HIGH LEVEL MANDATE.

>> HE SUGGESTED THAT I MIGHT BE GOOD AT WHAT I DO, AND I DIDN'T HAVE THE HEART TO PROVE HIM WRONG.

I MEAN, SOMEONE HAS FAITH IN ME - IT MEANS A LOT TO ME.

>> MY PARENTS USED TO TELL ME YOU ARE AN AMBASSADOR OF YOUR RACE', MEANING WE TRAVELED TO A LOT OF PLACES WHERE PEOPLE HADN'T MET BLACK PEOPLE BEFORE.

AND AS AN ADULT, NOW I REALIZE I'M AN AMBASSADOR OF, ONE OF THE AMBASSADORS OF THE HUMAN RACE.

AND I'LL TAKE THAT ON.

>> ONE THING I WAS WONDERING ABOUT WITH THIS PLAY IS, IS THE QUESTION: IS IT TOO SOON?

>> MAYBE IT'S TOO SOON.

I DON'T THINK SO.

THE REACTIONS WE'RE GETTING FROM THE AUDIENCE, IT FEEL LIKE IT'S TIME.

IT'S, WHY STUFF THE STUFF DOWN?

WHY SHOVE IT DOWN AND NOT THINK ABOUT IT?

UNTIL WHEN?

THAT'S ONE OF THE REASON WHY I'M ON STAGE.

I'M NOT SAYING 'YEAH, GO REFLECT ON THE PANDEMIC, YOU KNOW, GO OVER THERE' - NO, I'M LIKE, I'M HERE WITH YOU.

>> AND SO "WITH YOU" THAT AUDIENCE MEMBERS ARE INVITED TO REFLECT ON THEIR EXPERIENCE OF LOCKDOWN BY FILLING OUT CARDS ABOUT WHAT THEY WANT TO REMEMBER - OR FORGET.

FOR THE PBS NEWSHOUR, I'M JEFFREY BROWN AT THE PUBLIC THEATER IN NEW YORK.