Renée Bartlett-Webber | News Editor

Perviz Sawoski, director of the play "By The River Rivanna," at the Santa Monica Colllege Studio Stage before the tech rehearsal on Tuesday Oct. 17th, 2023 in Santa Monica, Calif. (Akemi Rico | The Corsair)

“By The River Rivanna’s” director provides additional context into the events leading up to the play’s cancellation.

Santa Monica College’s (SMC) Theater Arts Department chair and director Perviz Sawoski talked to The Corsair to share her perspective of how the events leading up to the cancellation of “By the River Rivanna” transpired.

Sawoski explained that while visiting Magnolia Plantation in South Carolina in 2022, she was inspired by the story of her tour guide, author and historian Joseph McGill. She shared his story with playwright Bruce Smith with whom she had worked on four SMC productions prior. “He’s the only one I know…He’s an amazing writer,” she said. In his artist’s statement, Smith stated, “I, as a white male playwright, felt compelled to examine my own relationship to racism and the legacy of slavery in this country.” He had the first version of the script ready in February.

Student’s participation in this play was part of enrollment in the Theater Arts 55 course, Advanced Production, Small Theatre Venue, an elective class. In order to enroll in the course, students must audition for and be cast in the play. The auditions for “By the River Rivanna” were held on Sept. 9.

First semester student Earl Williams said, “Ms. Perviz is my movement teacher, so being in her class, she encouraged us to audition.” Williams was cast as the lead character Grady Davis, a modern Black man discovering his family’s past through an ancestor’s journal. Cast member Tia Jiji said Perviz also reached out to her to join the production. “She saw potential in me and said ‘I honestly think you'd be perfect for this role.’ And I was.” Jiji was cast as Charlotte Miller, the distant grandmother of the main character and an enslaved woman in 1850.

Sawoski shared that one student who she wanted to cast expressed concerns with the content of the play. “He didn't like the idea of the power difference between the two characters. One is an enslaved person, and one is the son of the plantation owner. So, we recast that part.” She emphasized that the script had been in constant evolution throughout rehearsals based on feedback from the students and the community.

Some of the changes that Sawoski and Smith said that were made included reordering songs so that “Wade in the Water” was not at the conclusion of the show at the request of the father of one of the students, no longer using the “N-word” in the script, removing a controversial description of rape and scenes depicting the beating of an enslaved person, and changing lines to make the romance between the enslaved man and the plantation owner more ambiguous. The director said that the “original script didn’t sugarcoat anything,” and that it showed things “that actually happened in history.”

“The script was vetted by a Black playwright who Bruce knew very well, and who actually asked him to keep it strong,” said Sawoski.

As part of the attempt at adjusting the script, Sawoski said that she and Smith invited president of SMC’s Black Collegians Sherri Bradford and Pan-African Alliance president and faculty member Dr. Jermaine Junius to a rehearsal on Oct. 12, one week before the play’s premiere, but that there was no communication with them after their visit. “I even asked them how they were doing during intermission but they ignored me and left. It was sad because the whole purpose of asking Sherri to come was to see if there was anything that we needed to fix and that didn't happen.” Sawoski said she did not reach out back to the two faculty members again after the event. In a statement given on Oct. 31 as a response to an article reporting on the play’s cancellation, Sawoski said the comments made by Sherri Bradford about the production were “irrelevant to the play” and called Dr. Junius a “happy censor and harasser.”

On the events of Oct. 12, Bradford said, “Pervis looked over at me and Jermaine, and asked if we were okay. Jermaine just looked at her and I shook my head vigorously. I was choked up, and I couldn't speak. And so it was at that point that we left. I could not sit through act two.” Bradford said that in the following days, she and Smith scheduled a meeting to talk about the play, something several other faculty had requested to join in. She said that 25 minutes after the start of the meeting, Smith texted asking to reschedule. “At that point, I did not respond. Then he sent me an email saying that he's been fighting censorship and he would love the opportunity to chat but I did not respond.”

Sawoski expressed that she understood there were controversial aspects of the play, but it’s necessary for people to see it and then form an opinion. “A play is meant to be seen. It doesn’t exist on paper.” When asked about the possibility of the community holding gatherings to discuss the play, she said she was neutral and “had not thoughts on that.”

“If there's a reasonable discussion, that would be great. If there's just anger and hatred, I don't want to be part of that,” said Sawoski.

The director said that she now wants to move on from the situation and focus on what’s next for the Theater Arts department. “I'm a little battered down by all the things that people are saying. They have the right to say whatever they want to say, of course. I'm sure their hurt is real.” She said that the play’s intention was to bring to light the suffering of the time and not sensationalize it. “None of it was done in a way that is offensive to anybody.”

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