Sex, slavery, alcoholism and chocolate cake were all topics explored this past weekend when the Ohio State departments of theatre and geography presented “Sugar,” a solo work in progress by Robbie McCauley.
McCauley won an OBIE, an award given for off-Broadway theatre, in 1992 for her play “Sally’s Rape,” and the presentation of “Sugar” was the culmination of McCauley’s week-long residency at OSU. “Sugar” examines McCauley’s personal struggle against and survival with diabetes as connected to slavery, war, work, romance and food. McCauley not only tells her own story, but also portrays different characters to convey the wide range of perspectives from people she has met. At one point, a woman sitting in the audience, Gailmarie Harris whom McCauley met in Columbus, came on stage to tell her own story.
The show was introduced by Marie Cieri, assistant professor of urban social geography and critical cartography at OSU and also the residency producer for “Sugar.” Cieri used slides and audio from three of McCauley’s previous shows, “Mississippi Freedom,” “Turf” and “The Other Weapon,” which used primary sources to deal with race, politics, religion, and sexuality in a “jazz-like structure.”
The extensive examination of McCauley’s previous work before the play seemed odd at first. The introduction, however, showed the audience exactly what it is that McCauley does.
When McCauley presented “Mississippi Freedom,” she did so in some of the smallest, poorest towns in Mississippi. “Turf”, a play about desegregation through manipulated busing in Boston, played in Boston and spoke directly to the communities affected by the busing. “The Other Weapon,” a play that deals with the Black Panther Party in Los Angeles during the 1960s and ’70s, was shown in South Central, Englewood, and other areas in and around Los Angeles. Cieri showed how McCauley used the performance as a means of engaging her audience in the subject matter of the show; she uses real stories, real conversations and no walls between herself and the audience.
For the performance of “Sugar” the stage was minimally set with a chair, a stool, a table topped with avocado, bread and lettuce, and a couple nondescript black boxes. The show began with the Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar” playing while McCauley danced onto the stage. She spoke of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World and the rape of the women and the land for sugar that followed.
McCauley pointed to different sections in the audience and asked them what they thought about the war in Iraq. “Unfortunate,” “wrong,” and “disgusting” were some of the responses. McCauley said that these descriptions apply to diabetes too. McCauley went on to point out that blacks with diabetes are disproportionately amputated, disproportionately go blind and are disproportionately given dialysis when compared to their white counterparts. At this point, Gailmarie Harris stepped from out of the audience onto the stage to share her story about nearly losing her foot and the lower half of her leg to diabetes.
McCauley said that “the medical profession has not treated African Americans with the same care as others … racism is like diabetes, white privilege is like diabetes; you’re born with it, but you don’t have to nurture it.”
At one point in the performance, McCauley lifted one of the black boxes, showing a slew of diabetes paraphernalia, such as pill bottles, insulin, needles and a small machine to test her blood sugar.
McCauley tested her blood sugar and spoke of the epidemic of diabetes. She wondered whether there was any money to be made from a cure. McCauley spoke of all the different products now available for diabetics to purchase, implying that there is more money to be made off people living with diabetes than there would be to find a cure for diabetes.
She administered a shot of insulin into her stomach and made herself an avocado sandwich. McCauley went on to speak about food and the place it has within our culture, how it shapes our identity.
“Down south, we ate good,” McCauley said. “That’s all poor people have is food and sex,” she continued, quoting her mother.
McCauley said that “now it’s in The New York Times, everybody’s gonna have to start eating right,” she said. “We’ve been saying this for a while, people with diabetes, cause we want everyone to have the same food at the table.”
McCauley ended her performance by asking the audience “is this art?” before dancing to Otis Redding’s “Satisfaction.”
Most of the audience stayed for McCauley’s talkback session after the performance. McCauley characterized her work as a jazz collage of her life story against other real-world events. She spoke about the “sharing circles” where she had met diabetics in Columbus and heard their stories; this is where she met Gailmarie Harris.
McCauley said that she would like to incorporate more testimonials into the show. McCauley defined diabetes as being “the seduction of sugar and the rot of sugar at the same time.” McCauley spoke with the audience about the seduction and addiction of sugar, and the shame of diabetes. McCauley added that “shame is heavier than guilt: You’re allowing yourself to be seduced by something that will destroy you.”
Though entertaining, the performance seemed to be geared more toward education. It was apparent, however, that McCauley’s presence and performance meant a lot to the people who came.
It seemed as if many in the audience had been affected by diabetes in one way or another, and felt a close personal connection to McCauley’s piece. McCauley’s strength as a performer lies in her ability to relate to her audience on a deeply personal level, through the conveyance of her emotional experiences. If McCauley is passionate about something, if there is drama in a subject for her, then she believes there will be for an audience as well. She said she hopes that even if the condition is unfamiliar, it would still be interesting.
“You’re not bringing something to a community that isn’t already there,” she said.
