Me and my director talked about our proud heritage while trekking back from Seattle to Bainbridge Island on the Ferry; hers being Ukrainian and mine being Scottish.  We talked about the contentedness we felt to our ancestors, what lives they lead, what trades they were known for, and our common global ancestral beliefs.  It brought up an unpleasant statement of, “I don’t see race, I don’t see color, etc.” Or in other words one is just . . . American.  One of the many joys of Seattle’s theater community is the representation of the whole color wheel.  Much of the plays I have scene over the last month have been about reclaiming ancestral heritage in a neutralized America.  “Familiar” at Seattle Repertoire Theater, which is about a Zimbabwean family coming to America and the family dynamics of some wanting to cling to the american promise and ideal and the others to the cultural, traditions, and rituals of their peoples.  “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” at BookIt theater of an awkward, fat college student finding peace and contentedness through his Dominican heritage.  “Forest Song” with the Lesser Known Players, a Ukrainian legend about their culture and connectedness to nature and the changing seasons.  They all encourage us to find the things that make us unique and to embrace our backgrounds, nationalities, and traditions, because when we or our families moved to America we did not receive a new blood that courses through our veins.

“As far as opposite are concerned opposites refine each other, they balance each other, they sooth each other.  They play off of each other off of each others intensities.”

~Kolby Harrell, ted talk (Love and basic colot theory

What a glorious, inspiring thought to celebrate our differences and diversity, and also therefore discovery our own uniqueness, traditions, and heritage. And also what inspiring thought to understand the nuances and shades of human.