Pass Over by Antoinette Nwandu
a critique by Korinn Annette Jefferies, korinnannette.com
at the end of last year, I had a discussion with a fellow theatre artist about how dramatic works are critiqued. I took a step back to assess the critiques I published: who was it for/what did i want them to get from the critique/how does my critique help? I want to make sure that I am critiquing in a way that doesn’t just address my opinions, but contributes to an overall understanding of the piece I’m critiquing, the playwright, the production process, and craft itself.
I’ve read and seen Pass Over a few times now.
I read the play for the first time in undergrad. I saw it last year as a grad student studio production at UNC. and then I saw it again on Amazon Prime shot by Spike Lee (which, unfortunately, is my least favorite rendition). since my last viewing of the piece, I’ve read it two more times.
I knew I wanted to write about it and even though I’ve continuously put it off (due to my own reflection) it is finally time to say the things.
Pass Over is inspired by Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and the book of Exodus in the bible. like Waiting for Godot, Pass Over has a small cast and centers two main characters as they wait. both works are cyclical, employing repetition in an effective concise way. in Pass Over, this is done primarily through the use of the word ‘nigga.’
on my first read of Pass Over, I loved the way Nwandu used ‘nigga’— the dialogue and topics being discussed indicated a different meaning each time it was used. I’ve shared Pass Over (in it’s literary format) with Black men who use ‘nigga’ just as much as I do, but many of them did not feel the same way about how the word is used in the play. and the more I think about it, the more I believe my training as an actress had a significant impact on my initial interpretation. the Black men I shared this piece with felt like it was an inauthentic portrayal of Black men. they felt like they were being characterized as ignorant through the portrayal of the primary characters Kitch and Moses, simply based on how they speak and how often they say ‘nigga.’
somewhere between my third or fourth read of Pass Over I took some time to re-read Waiting for Godot. I wanted to compare the repetition of phrases or words in ‘Waiting for Godot’ to the repetition of ‘nigga’ in Pass Over. there is an imbalance. Pass Over relies too heavily on one word to illustrate the cyclical nature of conversation between Kitch and Moses. though it is clear Nwandu is building momentum with the word leading up to aconflict between Kitch and Moses and Master later in the play, it is not always well integrated prior to the interaction with Master. at times, the use of the word feels like parsley or paprika— something thrown on top just to add a little color, and not really a necessary addition to the piece.
generally, I think it’s easier to write in your own voice. I use ‘nigga’ everyday, so when I write plays that employ the word ‘nigga’ it makes sense— I have a strong handle on the way the word functions and how other people feel about the use of it. white people love it, especially when it’s used in a familial sense, particularly in art. Black people’s feelings about the word are far more complex: they love it, they hate it, they are particularly critical about who gets to use it and how it is used. Nwandu’s characters Kitch and Moses were loosely based on the students Nwandu was teaching while writing the piece which were Black men in their early twenties. it can be assumed that this is where Nwandu’s use of ‘nigga’ began, and perhaps a lack of experience with the word itself in Nwandu’s personal vernacular (though there may be an intellectual understanding) plays a role in how the word is used in the script.
the play kind of reminds me of a snowball rolling down a hill, collecting snow, gaining momentum, getting bigger and going faster till it hits a wall and simply falls apart. when Kitch and Moses meet Master, the tone of the work shifts. I wish the character of Master was a bit more thought out. with Master’s character, Nwandu is indicating that even the most inconspicuous white people participate in the systematic, institutional elimination of Black men. though it is clear Nwandu is going for an ‘everyman’ archetype with Master, I think having a more specific, fully developed character would be much more impactful to the overall story.
there are multiple endings for this play. after publishing, Nwandu changed the ending, feeling that it no longer served audiences. the version I read feels rushed. when the book of Exodus is invoked in the story at the end of the play, it feels out of place. it is not well integrated into the action of the play and though it makes a poignant statement, it’s jarring placement only works on the back end, providing a necessary and explicit contrast with Master’s final monologue.
overall, I like Pass Over. it effectively articulates the cyclical nature of Blackness. if Nwandu had more time to sit with this script prior to staging and publishing, I think it would be even better.
key takeaways
sometimes research alone does not suffice and the subject of study needs to be embodied
finish first