"Nice People satirizes the idea within its own name through humor, original songs, and thickly applied vaudeville slapstick. It's centered around a conflict between two elderly white sisters: the reasonable, enabling Rosie and the racist, suspicious Frances."
"When a Mexican woman, Rita, opens a nearby food cart, Frances fixates on her as a target for paranoia and hostility. Rosie seizes on this as a teachable moment, inviting Rita over to explain that she's not interested in robbing Frances."
"The premise of Rosie's request is played for laughs, but there will be those who see this as a reasonable thing to say. Can't people of color just nicely explain that racist delusions are wrong—without hurting feelings?"
Nice People is a comedy-drama that explores themes of performative niceness and racism through the conflict between two elderly sisters, Rosie and Frances. Rosie is enabling, while Frances harbors racist suspicions towards Rita, a Mexican woman with a food cart. The play uses humor, original songs, and slapstick to highlight the absurdity of their interactions. Rosie's request for Rita to explain her innocence to Frances serves as a critique of the expectation for marginalized individuals to placate racist fears. The script aims to challenge perspectives without causing offense.
Read at Portland Mercury
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