Playwrights Local

Objectively/Reasonable

OBJECTIVELY/REASONABLE:

A Community Response to the Shooting of Tamir Rice, 11/22/14

By Playwrights Local
Conceived and edited by David Todd
Directed by Terrence Spivey

August 18 – September 4, 2016
Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 pm & Sunday at 2:30 pm

A documentary play on the impact and aftermath of the Tamir Rice shooting, expressing unheard voices from the Cudell neighborhood and Greater Cleveland. This new work lets the people speak, with their fears, reservations, and hopes fueling monologues drawn from original interviews. Created by an ensemble of playwrights—Mike Geither, Tom Hayes, Lisa Langford, Michael Oatman, and David Todd—Objectively/Reasonable features direction by Terrence Spivey, former artistic director of Karamu House.

Run Time: Approximately 90 minutes, without intermission.

Conceiver/Editor

David Todd

Contributing Playwrights

Mike Geither

Tom Hayes

Lisa Langford

Michael Oatman

David Todd

Director

Terrence Spivey

Special Post-Show Discussions

August 18: Hosted by Peter Lawson Jones

August 19: Hosted by A. Harris Brown

August 21: Hosted by Ronnie A. Dunn, Ph.D.

August 28: Hosted by Mansfield Frazier

September 4: Hosted by Tammy Tucker

Awards & Recognition

Best Director: Terrence Spivey
Scene Magazine, May 2018

Top Plays of 2016
Land of Cleve, 30 December 2016

Outstanding Non-Musical Productions / Outstanding Performance by a Female: Ashley Aquilla
Broadway World-Cleveland, 20 December 2016

Most Socially Significant Local Play of 2016
The Cleveland Critics Circle, 19 December 2016

Reviews

“Electric, probing and uncomfortably raw…deeply moving…It discusses and dissects and sets the notion of ‘a post-racial society’ on fire. This is a play that needs to be seen.”
The Plain Dealer, 20 August 2016

“A work that should travel to theaters all over the country; it needs to be seen and heard by everyone who sincerely wants police brutality to cease in America…A catharsis.”
Cool Cleveland, 21 August 2016

“A must-see experience for anyone interested in the real world around them.”
Broadway World, 22 August 2016 [Reprinted in Scene Magazine, 24 August 2016]

“The window that has opened for all to view the inequity of law enforcement activity in the less advantaged Cleveland neighborhoods. It is a show that begs to be seen by police officers and citizens alike.”
Talkin’ Broadway, 22 August 2016

“If you miss Objectively/Reasonable, you will miss one hell of an evocative, engaging, and empowering evening in the theatre…This powerful production needs to be revived again and again.”
Land of Cleve, 3 September 2016

“These slice-of-life monologues come in varying shades of anger and disillusionment that do not shy away from ardent social commentary…they pulsate with purpose and artistic integrity.”
Cleveland Jewish News, 19 August 2016