When Teatro San Diego was launched in 2020 with the goal of providing more work for theater artists of color and the LGBTQ and disabled communities, its first production didn’t get the debut its founders dreamed of.
The new production, which runs through Sunday, re-creates the original directorial concept by Teatro cofounders Kevin “Blax” Burroughs and Julio Catano, along with Alyssa “Ajay” Junious’ choreography and Reiko Huffman’s protest slogan-decorated scenic design. But this production has a new cast, new dancers and a live band led by William Ah Sing rather than the recorded tracks used last year. And most important: It’s live.
Burroughs and Catano re-set the show in the “new world” of the post-George Floyd/Black Lives Matter era. They also rethought the roles of the four performers — named simply Man 1 and 2 and Woman 1 and 2 in the script — to represent different themes. Woman 1 sings songs about female empowerment; Man 2 sings about love relationships; Woman 2 sings about White privilege; and Man 1 sings about racial justice.