Slip/Shot: Provoking Discussion Regarding Race in Today’s Society

WRITTEN BY: SIENA SOHN

On Feb. 21, students participating in the theater community at Temple University read Slip/Shot in Annenberg Hall in order to provoke thought and discussion about race on stage between the audience and cast members.

Slip/Shot connects two similar love stories of different races in the 1960s in Florida through the murder of Monroe, a character in the play. Ultimately, the reading emphasizes the issues with both race and the corruption of the law within it.

In 2011, Jacqueline Goldfinger wrote Slip/Shot and received the 2012 Barrymore Award for Outstanding New Play as well as the Brown Martin Award as a result of its debut in 2012.

Angela Costigan and Matthew Clark, both Theater majors, co-produced/directed Slip/Shot after finding how powerful its message was about today’s society. Clark, a senior at Temple, decided to direct the reading simply because he wanted to share “the realization[s] that this script brought to me.”

Among the cast was Mikayla Clearly (Kitty), Matthew Keim (Clem), Sabriaya Shipley (Miz. Athey), George McGriff III (Monroe) and Nydia Broomer (Phrasie), all of which are talented students involved with the theater program at the university.

After the reading finished, the cast sat before the audience, giving them the opportunity for an open discussion on the content and message of Slip/Shot. Many questions were asked, but each audience member agreed that Slip/Shot truly showed the struggle of race within our society today.