The Best Things We Saw on the Metro Phoenix Arts Scene in 2019

Dutchman

Tempe Center for the Arts

Coupled with the rapid-fire flash of images capturing the violence of racism past and present, the set pieces referencing lynching created a visceral context for Dutchman, which imagines a black man’s chilling encounter with a white woman on a New York City subway. Nuanced performances heightened the impact of playwright LeRoi Jones’ (a.k.a. Amiri Baraka) work, which explores the suppressed rage of blacks against the dominant white culture. With this production, director Ralph Remington put racism front and center, challenging the community to create dialogues about its present-day manifestations.