![]() This is why I chose to direct this play at this time. In her explanation of the play, Jacqueline Wood said that the positioning of Shigeko and Carl against unnamed white male figures of determination and the play's indeterminate ending allows Sanchez to interrogate struggles which continue to confront oppressed peoples across American society. Shigeko is a peacemaking character who strives to please First Man, but at the same time she moderates Carl's anger at how the game is rigged. Upon giving Carl the Queen of Spades a third time in the play, First Man said: "I knew you weren't expecting it and I couldn't resist the temptation." This speaks to the sadist nature of white privilege and racist oppression that First Man exacts on Carl. As I said in my note in the program, the triumph of Carl is his refusal to play the rigged game that ensures that anybody Black who tries to play the game, which represents the American free market, will be made to feel like the loser. The play's drama arises from Carl's fighting the role that First Man and Second Man have proscribed for him. He identifies himself to First Man as a Black capitalist and believes that by his being that, First Man and Second Man will let him win but they don't. Since the object of Hearts is to have the lowest hand, First Man and Second Man essentially conspire to ensure that Carl will get this card and never win the game. They ensure that Carl never wins by giving him the Queen of Spades, which is the card with the highest value. ![]() You have the Poet who represents artists who balk at the game that First and Second Man rig to make sure that Carl never wins. You have Carl, the Black capitalist and the main character of the play who is desperately trying to win in the metaphoric game of hearts in this game. You have Shigeko, a Hiroshima maiden who represents the immigrant experience but in Professor Sanchez's language in this play, Shigeko specifically represents the Japanese immigrant. You have First Man and Second Man who represent white privilege and white power. The play is basically a card game of hearts where the players represent members of wealth and power according to their race in American society. I love how it shows in a simple way American racial hierarchy or hegemony. I read it and I absolutely fell in love with it. That same year, Duke University Press published an edited collection of Professor Sanchez's plays which gave me the opportunity to actually read the play Dirty Hearts. In another interview with Joyce Ann Joyce in 2005, Professor Sanchez said that she has never seen Dirty Hearts performed (203). I first got interested in this play after reading an interview Professor Sanchez had with Jacqueline Wood in Joyce Ann Joyce's edited collection in a book called "Conversations With Sonia Sanchez." Professor Sanchez told Jacqueline Wood that "its a play that looks at how men and women deal with each other in the midst of destructive attitudes twoards them" (139). Second by the very dedicated cast who took their notes diligently and who gave their best in rehearsals and in their performances. First by the brevity and clarity of Professor Sanchez's poetic writing that is filled with as much strong political meaning as it is with rhythm. It was an absolute honor to have directed Sonia Sanchez's play DIRTY HEARTS at the Adrienne Theater for four performances at the Adrienne Theater in Philadelphia from Friday July 13th to Sunday, July 15th.
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