'We Are Proud to Presnt . . .': Genocide play numbs, then stuns

What do you do with a play that comes within a hair of cutting its own throat - only to have it turn around and try to cut yours?

Even the title of InterAct Theatre Company's new production doesn't cooperate with any known marquee: We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia Formerly Known as South West Africa From the German Sudwestafrika Between the Years 1884-1915.

Got that?

The 100-minute intermissionless play about the nature of racism and the possibilities of unimaginable cruelty lurking in all of us dares you to take it seriously.

The plot: A theater company, starting rehearsals for a play about the little-known genocide of the Herero tribe in German Sudwestafrika before World War I, bickers endlessly before getting down to the actual drama.

Such hide-and-seek metafiction is a respected genre these days, but playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury intentionally abuses the privileges that come with it.

As the actors playing actors meander down one dead end after another (one sings "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music), the theater professionals in the audience at Wednesday's opening laughed raucously at the apparent inside jokes, but civilians might feel they've landed in Japan, so inane did it seem.

I couldn't believe the cast could memorize such drivel, or participate in something that ridicules their profession. And if an audience needs to be abused with boredom at such length to make a point, the writing has failed.

Then came the dark part.

After the cast debates whether empathy can cross racial lines, or if empathy exists at all, the psychological and physical abuse of the Herero tribe is presented full tilt with some of the nastiest racial epithets I've ever heard, and with a fury beyond what you thought these or any actors could accomplish. This isn't a spoiler, but a warning. Even if I had known what was coming, the way in which it's handled defies description and robs the audience of closure, which is probably apt: There is no resolution in genocidal matters.

Given the script's challenging playing field, InterAct's production, directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh, is a huge accomplishment. One can only give equal kudos to the acting ensemble (or anti-ensemble, as it often was). Their names: JaBen Early, James Ijames, Kevin Meehan, Jamison Foreman, Aime Donna Kelly, and Miriam White.

Ultimately, I respected the package. But it's hard to recommend it to your friends, especially if you happen to like them.

We Are Proud to Present ...

InterAct at the Adrienne,

2030 Sansom, through Nov. 10

Tickets: $15-$33

215-568-8077, interacttheatre.orgEndText