“UNSTABLE CONNECTION” PAVES PATH FOR ‘VIRTUAL’ ACTIVISTS — STREAMING CAL
Margo Hall Motivates Modern Freedom Fighters
by Abby Tozer
March 13, 2020 on the UC, Berkeley campus. The sun is shining, and thousands of students rush to class. Some have just grabbed a Starbucks, others are busy planning their summers abroad. But an air of uncertainty looms.
Watching Cal’s “Unstable Connection: A Devised Performance Project,” a phone pops up center screen with FaceTime chimes. A panicked voice, resolute Shandria Blackmon, is talking about a decision in the Breonna Taylor trial. She questions, “How does $12 million replace a black body?” Zoomer Michael Peck attempts to reassure her, but we hear palpable fear in her voice.
Suddenly, several students interject: “I just wanna get my nails done,” “I just wanna get a haircut.” Their inane pleas sound familiar, now. Feeling Shandria’s fear, we laugh at their ridiculous privilege.
Director Margo Hall has created a seamless narrative that moves us through each student’s initial shock and into the surprisingly optimistic present of the pandemic. “Unstable Connection” provides powerful commentaries on the curse of COVID-19.
Theatre student and mother, Anna Marie Sharpe concludes, “We must stand up for the next person as we wish they would for us.” In six months, eight actors have transformed themselves from frightened, self-concerned students to empowered virtual activists.
A dynamic ensemble of BIPOC Berkeley students share intimate insights as suddenly “virtual” students. Images of police brutality and the Black Lives Matter Movement flash around their stories. Blended montages of pre and post COVID life punctuate the transformation.
Yet, our haphazard collection of newly anointed “virtual activists” begin to defy their isolation. As an ensemble, they cross a bridge to resistance and empathy.
In eight Zoom boxes, students rip up colored papers. up colored paper, chanting “the enemy of union is division.” Sharpe stoically intones: “These papers divide red and blue from “I can’t breathe!” Sharpe demands we value lives over party.
Enthusiastic Daniela Cervantes blossoms — from student to activist, after her mother survives the virus. Now Cervantes refuses to be “just a student,” any longer. She starts a bold Zoom protest in support of BLM, seeking clarity amid chaos.
Director Margo Hall’s Zoom room offers a cast of clever COVID characters: In the bottom middle box, we find COVID clueless “Sorority Becky” (hilarious Alexa Brionna Chrismon), casually sipping from her oversized glitter cup. On the left, loud-mouthed Michael tries to shut down Daniela’s hopes. But ideas start swirling.
Beaming with excitement, Geovany Calderon suggests they harness the power of social media. When Cristal Haryanto, overachieving computer scientist, crashes the Zoom, she saves the day with Techie know-how. Center-screen ringleader, Cervantes, convinces us to “think outside the box” to make changes in crazy times.
By the end, startling changes flash by on screen — costumes changes and pithy slogans transform them into modern freedom fighters.
From shock to denial to empowerment, the wonderfully talented actors of “Unstable Connection” turn into activists. They leave us feeling liberated, better armed to make sorely needed changes. We feel like joining their party.
“Unstable Connection” by U.C., Berkeley Theater, Dance, & Performance Studies (TDPS), directed by Margo Hall — Streaming CAL, Berkeley — to Sunday November 15, 2020.
Cast: Shandria Blackmon, Geovany Calderon, Daniela Cervantes, Alexa Briana Crismon, Joseph Gonzalez, Crystal Haryonto, Michael Peck, and Anna Marie Sharpe.
Banner photo: (top) Michael Peck, Alexa Briana Crismon, Daniela Cervantes; (middle) Joseph Gonzalez, Anna Marie Sharpe, Shandria Blackmon; (bottom) Geovany Calderon, Crystal Haryanto.
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