Paul Anthony Notice (”Nicole and Anthony”) from Georgetown University is the winner of the 2009 Gaffney Play competition.
Set in Boston and Norfolk, Virginia, “Nicole and Anthony” travels lyrically through time following the life of a freed bi-racial woman–Nicole–as she returns to the chains of modern slavery. Nicole collides with a collection of men who represent the various faces of American society and her painful interactions with others detonate an acute self-reflection on the haunting inside her.
MARSHALL INSTITUTE Blog
Sponsored by the Marshall Institute and Thurgood Marshall College, UC San Diego. Third Annual Dr. Floyd Gaffney Playwriting Award on the African American Experience: An Interview with Award Winning Playwright Paul A. Notice II
March 31st, 2009
Your award winning play, “NICOLE AND ANTHONY”, experiments with time over many American decades and the transformation of a former slave. How did you come upon the concept for writing your dramatic story?
At the time, I was reflecting on past relationships that I’ve been in; those both good and bad. I noticed that in many of them the past greatly effected the present. The memories from past relationships often return to shape the individual’s view of the present. In some relationships, it was as if my lover saw me as the reincarnation of her past lovers; and I was judged likewise. I then began to look at this through a larger sense in regards to American society and the Black identity. There were certain stigmas and feelings that have purveyed the Black community across time about certain identities; the educated Black male, light skin, Black militancy, and so on. “Nicole and Anthony” became an attempt to explain where these paradigms might have come about, and why they still exist.
Do you consider the movement of history in this country to be an upward evolution on race relations and social justice?
Maybe. I’m allowed to attend the same institutions and receive the same public benefits as my fellow White Americans de jure. However, I’m most certainly aware of the de facto segregation and reconfiguration of racial bigotry in this country. Social injustice is an elusive, yet omniscient creature. I have learned that the same problems that have plagued certain communities never truly disappear, but are rather transmogrified into some other vicious animal. Colorism is a perfect example. The rift between Black Americans and higher education is another. However, I have found that in time, we have come to work our way around these issues, despite their permanency.
How would you describe the character of Nicole living in contemporary times?
Being a cleaning woman during her time was certainly not as lowly a job for Black Americans as it is now. Though still not regarded to that of a physician like Anthony, Nicole’s work would have still pulled some nods of approval from any member of society. She was free, working and law-abiding. Translating this over to contemporary times is hard. In our times, a little more is expected for the Black American, although the three characteristics previously mentioned still have some weight as well. She couldn’t simply be a housemaid anymore, or a custodian. She had to have a job that wasn’t too high up, or too low down. Furthermore, I tried to think of situation wherein Nicole and Anthony would still meet with the same feelings of reservations, mentally acrobats and unabashed curiosity. Moreover, there still had to be that class gap between Anthony and Nicole. Maybe she would be a temp worker waiting for the Metro near Anthony’s office. Maybe she’s a teacher at a nearby high sc hool, and Anthony sits on the board. Whatever the case, the stakes would have to still exist, as well as the prerequisites for Anthony’s “bousiness.”
What play, film, or novel impacted greatly during your college time at Georgetown?
It’s definitely a tie between the play “The Brother’s Size” by Tarell Alvin McCraney and the film “There Will Be Blood.” Both deal with the condition of the heart, and the extent to which kindness and compassion for others can be pushed. On one hand we see in “The Brother’s Size” the expansion of compassion and the love for others under worsening circumstances. In “There Will Be Blood,” we see the contraction, and subsequent retraction, of this selflessness.
Could you explain briefly how you became interested in theatre?
It was actually because of a professor I had, Dr. Nadine George-Graves. She simply opened my eyes to a greater world of Black Theatre and Performing Arts that I never knew existed. Her first out-of-class assignment was for students to go see “The Brothers Size.” After the performance, I became addicted to the art of playwriting.
A year ago, did you anticipate that Barack Obama could win the national election?
How do you view his historic rise to the American presidency?
I had been following Barack since his race against Alain Keyes for the Illinois U.S. Senate seat. Even then, I admired his character. Nevertheless, I was wary when he decided to run so soon after his election to the U.S. Senate. I never thought the race would be won so decisively. It came to show that Americans in some part were willing to push aside their differences to face a greater challenge. Regardless, things are still far from perfect, and I do not expect President Obama to cure all social ills in this country.
If you were on a long flight, would you prefer sitting next to Whoopi Goldberg or Chris Rock?
Chris Rock, though I feel that I’m being unfair since a generational gap keeps me from truly knowing the wit and feel of Whoopi Goldberg. Nevertheless, despite Chris Rock being a comedian, he makes valid and poignant criticisms on American Society albeit in a crude and relaxed way. Sitting next to Chris Rock, I imagine, would be akin to me sitting in a chair at my barbershop. Points are made. Arguments are won. But they are all done with such an air of tongue-in-cheek and relaxation that one can rarely realize the depth of such conversation until it long embedded in the subconscious.
Posted by jmorris Filed in TMC Interviews
Nov 6, 2009
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