Sound experiment: Missy (Elliot) and (Charles) Mee.

This media experiment pairs the song “Work It” by Missy Elliot (featured in UMBC’s production of The Mail Order Bride) with an audio excerpt of Charles Mee’s “A note on casting” which can be found here. These should be played simultaneously, however “Work It” should be low enough volume to hear the recordingI’ve recorded myself reading a section of Mee’s comments on the casting of his plays, as it relates to identity. His comments get to the heart of his views on the world, as a self-described “cripple” married to a Japanese-American-Canadian woman. I was inspired to pair the two when I considered that this play is being produced with a majority-white-fully-able-bodied cast by an entirely white faculty who have seen fit to introduce hip-hop music and dance to the production. It is an experiment in juxtaposition and coalescence.