Interview by: Josephine Clarke, Guest Writer
This interview is part of The Grappler's Mess Fest Interview Series. Lazarus Howell and Sierra Reynolds are the heads of the Mess Fest event "Watch Out! Black Ice," in collaboration with Black Artists of Today (BAT).
Could you give a brief description of this project?
Lazarus: It is an all-black sketch show called Watch Out, Black Ice! produced by the organization BAT: Black Artists of Today.
What was the inspiration behind this project?
Lazarus: The act of pitching it was, “Hey, I have an organization. We would like to put on a show because we have the ability and the time to do so.” I see money. Not in literal terms, but in terms of money moves. And the inspiration is producing Black excellence on the main stage of TTS because I don’t think we’ll ever have an opportunity like this to ever do an all-Black sketch show ever. Maybe, but probably not.
Sierra: Not for a while at least. I would say that, for me, the biggest reason for wanting to do this project was giving black students of every major a chance to be a part of the project. We started writing it back in July/August. We had writers, not just in playwrighting but also in acting and comedy arts, and it’s all sketch writing too, so I think it’s pushing a lot of people out of their boundaries. Not only that, but within our cast, we only have two actors and they’re both freshmen too. So it’s awesome that we’re allowing people to perform, write, be a part of the project that wouldn’t necessarily be able to, but then I’m also glad that we get to bring in some younger students as well to let them kind of work on things in a cultural context which is not an opportunity that a lot of us had freshman year.
What is Black Artists of Today?
Lazarus: We are an organization that caters to the Black community of TTS. That’s what we do.
How does this project play into or reflect your personal theatrical practice?
Lazarus: As President of all Black people at TTS–
Sierra: Self-proclaimed! Self-proclaimed Black leader of TTS!
Lazarus: I’m President of BAT and we cater to all Black people, therefore…
Yeah, anyway, yes and no. We did Black Stardust and we didn’t need the authority of the school or even the organization to do it. We just did it. There’s hungry artists here and everywhere in the world, and I found out there is a want, and where there’s a need I create content, I create opportunities for other people.
Sierra: I’d say that this is very in line with what I want to do theatrically. I think it’s making me step out of my box because I haven’t always been super comfortable with comedy. So working on more shows with Lazarus, getting me to step out of my box and everything like that. Exactly what we did with Black Stardust, just earlier in this year, was along the same vein of trying to give Black students of the Theatre School, or just in general, an opportunity to perform. Especially during the pandemic, it was much more pressing then. But even so now, I think that’s important.
What do you hope audiences will get from the show?
Lazarus: I want to showcase Black excellence, for one. I want the white people to learn! [laughs] No, I’m kidding. No, I want to showcase Black excellence and I want to have fun doing things with Black people. That’s pretty much it.
Sierra: I feel like Black comedy is not something that we talk about, or hear about here at TTS, so I think that this sketch show and working with BAT is a great way to bring Black comedy to TTS. Starting with the comedy arts program, and hopefully, we’ll get a lot more Black students filtered through there but, even just with the acting and writing and theatre arts students we have here, I think there’s a possibility for us to open up what making Black theatre looks like at the Theatre School and it doesn’t always have to be sad. It doesn’t always have to be a slave play. It can be a comedy! It can be a Black sketch show.
What have you learned through this process?
Lazarus: I enjoy the fact that I’m a comedy arts major. I dislike- and maybe this is a dig at Mess Fest- the intricate circles and hoops I have to jump through in terms of creating this opportunity. In the future, I would like to find a more mainstream personal connection with the theatre and less of a hula hoop of many things that are happening, in terms of creating something as grand as to be expected from a show like this. I guess I learned the politics of theatre and the Theatre School.
Sierra: I would agree with that. Obviously, Lazarus and I have worked together on a project before and that one was a little bit more independent in terms of us putting it together and that was almost easier than this one, just because we weren’t having to deal with the restrictions around rehearsal times, rehearsal spaces, tech, all this other sort of stuff. But for the most part, I think it’s made us really resilient and made us really passionate about this project and making sure it reaches the right audience.
Further comments?
Sierra: When you’re putting on an all-Black sketch show with the very few Black students we have on this campus, it’s kind of hard to even get that involvement, especially when you’ve got other shows going on. But then on top of that, you throw in all the other types of restrictions we’ve been put on in terms of costuming and, like I said before, booking rehearsal spaces. Made it a little difficult.
Lazarus: It feels like we are respected from a distance but don’t want to be touched. Another thing: for BAT we’re thinking of collecting all of our comp tickets and giving them away to other Black DePaul students.
Sierra: Shoutout to our stage manager, Sarah. She’s awesome, we love Sarah.
Josephine (she/her) is a third-year dramaturg. She is incredibly interested in dramaturgy and comedy and how the two intersect. Her practice is defined by flexibility and creativity, and she strives to make dramaturgy as dynamic as possible.
Love what you're reading? Subscribe to our newsletter!