Rites and Reason's orientation performance demonstrates that profiling is for the birds

New musical by Elmo Terry-Morgan is the latest incarnation of "Profiles and Shadows," a program developed over the past several years through Terry-Morgan's Research-to-Performance Method.

by Mary Jo Curtis

The set covering the stage of upper Salomon could be mistaken for one from "Sesame Street."

Brightly colored creatures with oversized, bird-like heads flock in and out of surprisingly sophisticated "nests" built in the branches of a large, talking tree. The characters - including the tree - sporadically burst into song, their lyrics intended to convey important lessons.

The dialogue quickly breaks the spell: This is clearly not preschool entertainment; it's more akin to "Avenue Q."

A Flying White Blue-Beak mother scolds its nestling, assuming the youngster is up to no good. A Snowbird laments the changes in her neighborhood since the Crescent Breasts have moved in. A patrolling pair of Yellow Jackets turn their stun guns on a group of teenage birds wearing colors, prompting one to exclaim, "Mother feather!" And the tree announces, "I am better than the others."

This musical, written by Associate Professor of Africana Studies Elmo Terry-Morgan, is the latest incarnation of "Profiles and Shadows," a program developed over the past several years through Terry-Morgan's Research-to-Performance Method (RPM) at Rites and Reason Theatre. Last month, for the first time, the production was offered three times as a mandatory part of orientation for first-year students.

"Diversity is a central value at Brown," Dean of the College Paul Armstrong told one audience. Tying the concept to the University's curriculum, Armstrong said diversity enhances "the richness of environment" - but warned that it also holds the potential for misunderstanding and conflict, adding "It can be a challenge during your four years."

It's those challenges that Terry-Morgan and his troupe hope to defuse; the Profiles and Shadows project examines the all-too-common social practice of profiling. Although the initial inspiration for the project came from Providence's Cornell Young Jr. case, its scope is wide, including profiling based not just on race, but on gender, age, ethnicity and sexual orientation.

There are three types of profiling, beginning with the practice of making assumptions and generalizations about people who are not like ourselves, Terry-Morgan explained to the audience. In shadow profiling, the usual victims of profiling in turn profile others; with self-profiling, an individual recognizes how he is seen by society and, believing he can't change that, begins to act out the assumed behavior.

"You perpetuate the image and become complicit in your own oppression," he said.

As has been the case since the inception of RPM 34 years ago, the project has been developed in a collaboration between student and teacher through academic research, character development, script writing and, ultimately, stage performance.

The subject of profiling "is an old conversation, but we wanted a fresh, unique way to enter that conversation," said Terry-Morgan. "We had to find something to get each of us to look internally. When do we profile? About what? Do we care? . ... We had to create a play that would reach the widest possible audience."

To do that Terry-Morgan turned to African-American folk tales. Fearing the audience would "attach too much" to human characters, he used animals. His approach appeared to achieve success, according to Karen Baxter, the managing director for Rites and Reason Theatre, who based her assessment on student discussions during the traditional Rites and Reason FolkThought sessions that followed each performance.

"We had some intense observations and questions and discoveries," Baxter said. Many of the new students clearly gained new insights through the program, she added.

The Rites and Reason troupe now wants to offer the lessons of Profiles and Shadows to the greater Providence community. The program was performed last January for some 3,000 Providence middle-school students as part of the Fleet Performance Art Series at PPAC. Talks are under way with the city's Art, Culture and Tourism officials to offer the program to local students again this year.