The simple fact of that matter is this: facts are not simple, and yet they matter.
I have always believed that one of the most important functions of theatre is to ask questions – big, big questions. Yes, theatre should entertain, delight, thrill, and engage, but more than that theatre should ask us questions about our world and how we want to live in it. The Niceties does that, and so much more.
The Niceties is both a small, intimate play about the relationship between two powerful, unique women and, at the same time, it is a sweeping play that questions the scope of history and some of our most important institutions. For me, this is what makes great theatre – the small thing that asks us questions about the huge.
We are in a profound moment of upheaval in our country, a time when Americans of all backgrounds, faiths, heritages, and political perspectives are being challenged to rethink our most beloved principals. Conversations on television, social media, and around our dinner tables are becoming more heated and more divided as we grapple with what appear to be mutually-exclusive ideals. Talking to each other has become an act of bravery; we worry that what we say won’t be heard, what we hear isn’t what was meant, and how we speak can be turned against us.
What Eleanor Burgess has done with The Niceties is to put all of those stresses and strains into a powder-keg shaped play bristling with conflict and alive with the potential for disaster; a shape that should be familiar to us as we look across our media landscapes, into our communities, and sometimes into our own families.
When I first read The Niceties I can remember thinking to myself, “Why don’t they just shut up and listen to each other!?!” Perhaps that is the real “big question” posed by this remarkable (and remarkably difficult) play: why can’t we just listen to each other? Even if what we hear is hard to take, it is the only first step that might help us get through these challenges times, and help us get through to each other.
I look forward to listening to your thoughts on The Niceties, even though I know it will be hard.
