Black and white (and grey all over)

This Is How It Goes by Neil LaBute is a deceptively simple minefield of racism, sexism, and classism that will leave your brain churning and you squirming uncomfortably in your seat. In the end, the play makes it clear that in matters of black and white, everything is really just one big grey area.

November 17, 2009; 6:00 AM • by Kristin Jimison

This Is How It Goes by Neil LaBute is a deceptively simple minefield of racism, sexism, and classism that will leave your brain churning and you squirming uncomfortably in your seat. In the end, the play makes it clear that in matters of black and white, everything is really just one big grey area.

The play’s down-on-his-luck narrator, Man (Fred Iacovo) returns to his small, Midwestern hometown and proceeds to rock the foundation of the interracial marriage of high school sweethearts Belinda (Laine Satterfield) and Cody (Tyhm Kennedy). Early on, Man breaks the fourth wall and admits he’s an unreliable narrator. He presents different versions of the emotionally charged, exceptionally ugly events that unfold, and the audience is never quite able to discern exactly what’s real. The only discernible truth is the undercurrent of bigotry and dishonesty threatening to drown everyone.

The characters could easily delve into caricature, but the actors give remarkable, complex performances. Satterfield plays Belinda as a both a resigned victim of circumstance and a woman nearing her breaking point. Any portrayal of Cody could veer easily into “angry black man” territory, but Kennedy manages to deliver a performance that evokes sympathy and hatred all at once. Iacovo’s jittery, nervous Man tries hard to be a convincing hero, but it slowly becomes clear he might instead be a monster. The intensity of the actors is sadly not matched by the boxy, sparse sets, which are sometimes distracting in their lack of substance.

LaBute’s play serves as a powerful reminder of the danger of living inside your own personal mythology. Instead of confronting your frailties, it’s easier to become your life’s own unreliable narrator… but where does the story end and reality begin? The beauty of This Is How It Goes is that you’re never quite sure exactly how it went.

This Is How it Goes is playing at Firehouse Theatre (1609 W. Broad Street) through Saturday, November 21st. Tickets range from $10-$25 and can be purchased online or by calling the box office at (804) 355-2001.

(Photo by Jay Paul, courtesy of Firehouse Theatre Project)