Lynn Manning
The premiere of Lynn Manning’s The Unrequited (Between Two Worlds) marks the 15th anniversary of the extraordinary Watts Village Theater Company, which works in site-specific venues, creating dramatic productions throughout its service area.
The company grew from a 1995 residency in Watts by LA’s Cornerstone Theater Company, which is nationally famous for creating theater in partnerships with local communities. When Cornerstone conducts a community partnership, it usually creates several theatrical works in various venues, then ends with an overarching event, called a “bridge show.” Manning says he “loved what they were doing and got involved in that bridge show [in 1995].” He adapted the text of Eric Bentley’s version of Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle, re-titled Central Avenue Chalk Circle, and wrote lyrics for Shishir Kurup’s score. Cornerstone’s founding artistic director Bill Rauch’s staging won the Ovation Award for best production in a smaller theater.
“Cornerstone likes to leave something behind to encourage creation of theater making in the community,” recalls Manning. “I got to know one of the performers, Quentin Drew, who was also a community activist in Watts, and we decided along with several others involved in the residency to establish a theater company in Watts. After the show came down at the end of 1995, we started our efforts to establish a new theater.”
For 15 years the theater has thrived without a permanent home. Drew died six years ago, but Watts Village board chair and resident playwright Manning remains as the touchstone for the organization.
The current production, which reunites Watts Village and Cornerstone under Kurup’s direction, began with a solicitation from Cornerstone on the occasion of its 25th anniversary year. Manning and Watts Village were thrilled to accept the invitation. “I thought since we were celebrating our 15th anniversary, what better way than to have another collaboration with our parent company?”
George Gant, Dyane Pascall, Erma Glover, and Tim Orona
The question was what the theme of the new collaboration would be. Manning had two competing ideas that suddenly seemed to go together. “My thinking was that one icon right now of mainstream entertainment is this zombie thing. Zombies as represented through the George Romero definition from Night of the Living Dead. I was looking for an opportunity to reclaim the concept of zombie for Hoodoo Voodoo and bring it back around to that. Also I wanted to use it in a way that would reflect the way I believe the Tea Party folk have been brainwashed into being the minions of corporate entities. I wanted to find a story I could do with that.”
Years ago he had worked on an adaptation of S. Ansky’s seminal Jewish drama The Dybbuk, the story of a young bride possessed by the wandering soul of a dead person on her wedding night. In a flash it occurred to him this was piece to work with. “Once we agreed to do this, the brainstorming began. I placed it in 1933 right after Roosevelt’s inauguration. The Depression of that time is paralleled with our great recession. I wanted to play with the problems of today in a historic context.”
Working with the two companies on his creation, Manning is excited to be highly involved in the process. “I am fully engaged as a living playwright should be. That is one advantage of playwriting over screenwriting; you have some semblance of control and input.”
One central fact overshadows his involvement with the production team. Over three decades ago Manning was blinded by a stranger’s gunshot in a bar. He feels his lack of sight actually adds a dimension to the process. “It certainly does in the audition situation in particular. But then you have battles with people because they are so tuned into what they see. They may sound wonderful but don’t look good together. Generally you have to acquiesce and leave the visual stuff to the visual folks. But I will argue with substance of scene and dialogue. I have a tendency not to want to take the path well traveled as far as storytelling is concerned. I don’t like formulaic decision making.”
In the three decades since losing his sight, Manning has become, almost by default, a leader for disability rights. “I am an activist because I am out and active and an advocate for accessibility for blind and disabled [people] in general. I am involved in several civil rights movements, including the IAMPWD [Inclusion in the Arts & Media of People with Disabilities]. It is a collaboration of three entertainment performing unions’ steering committees in its third year of advocating for greater representation of people with disabilities in film, television and stage.
“The organization advocates for greater representation of people with disabilities behind the scenes and in front of camera and on stage. I am greatly involved in that. Also I have always been an example, just through my own refusal to accept ‘no.’ When I decided I wanted to join a theater company and really get into it, I didn’t accept anyone’s refusal to let me in. I was the first black actor and disabled [individual] to get into Hollywood’s Actors Conservatory Ensemble. Just because nobody’s done it before, I don’t give a thought to that.”
The Cast of "The Unrequited"
Through his years of blindness, Manning has steadfastly refused to give in. He has kept up with every new technology for the blind. “It is becoming quite a lot easier. I use a PC with a screen reader software, which gives me access to most programs, particularly writing programs. Also some of the books used for exploration and research for my plays I get through the national library website for the blind. Audio downloads mostly, but certain ones you can get in text and Braille format to download electronically.
“I have what is called a Braille note-taker, which has most of the capabilities of a low end laptop but substitutes Braille and speech output for screen. Braille is easy enough once you have the training; to read by touch takes exposure and practice. Unfortunately it is not a sense that everyone has. There is a small percentage of totally blind who actually read Braille. A major cause of blindness is diabetes and old-age. You lose sensitivity in your fingers.”
Manning loves the acting part of his life; though opportunities are limited, he has appeared in several sitcoms and commercials. One of his great joys is his solo show Weights that covers his life of struggle and success. “I premiered it as an artist-in-residence with the Mark Taper Forum and tour with it to festivals. It has become a main source of my acting income. I try to get auditions through regular means, but they are few and far between, because of the limited call for blind characters, and ethnic limitations are even more arduous.”
Manning’s special talents, listed on his resume, includes: “Totally Blind, Judo Master, Blues Harmonica Player, Playwright/Poet.” Blind musician, poets and playwrights are part of our artistic consciousness, but blind judo masters? Manning laughs a bit at the question as he explains, “Judo is a grappling art; judo is to wrestling what karate is to boxing. It’s a hands-on art. A person has to grab you physically to do anything to you; they can’t stand back and punch and kick at you. You know where they are once they touch you, and it is on you to take control of the situation.
“It’s something a blind person can compete [in] on a pretty equal basis with sighted. Judo provided me an outlet for the frustrations of dealing with the loss of my sight. Also the testosterone-filled world of competitive sports allows me to maintain my self-image as an equal human being.” With his “blind judo” expertise he competed for the USA at the 1988 and 1992 Summer Paralympics and received the U.S. Olympic Committee’s award for Blind Male Athlete of the Year.
The Unrequited (Between Two Worlds), presented by Cornerstone Theater Company in association with Watts Village Theater Company, opens May 4; plays Wed.-Sat., 8 pm; Sun., 2 pm; through May 22. Tickets: $5-$20. Also pay-what-you-can tickets for every performance distributed at door on a first-come, first-served basis. Youth Opportunities High School (YOWatts), Mafundi Auditorium, 1827 E. 103rd St., Los Angeles (secure parking available in lot); 213-613-1700 or www.cornerstonetheater.org.
