Directing “The Performance of Possibilities” Within Whiteness: Casting, Staging, and Interaction in Postperformance Discussions

Abstract

Postperformance discussions are common, talk-driven events that follow cultural affairs (i.e., lectures, film screenings, theater) and often feature expert panelists in conversation with everyday spectators. This article examines the postperformance discussions held after The Every 28 Hours Plays, a critical performance project focused on anti-Black racism and police brutality, at the predominantly White University of Missouri. Applying discourse analysis to transcripts of the postproduction dialogues, I show how Whiteness challenged some White spectators’ understanding of the pedagogically oriented performance and, as such, I examine how critical performance pedagogues can grapple with the White racial frame of spectatorship to navigate and, potentially, resist it. One way to navigate Whiteness during postperformance discussions is to approach the discussions as performance, using directorial practices like casting, staging, and structured interaction to focus the dialogue on a production’s critical themes.