by Dan Mayer
Art is often at its best when it directly addresses current events, challenges social norms, and demands change. All the Colors is an original show from Creative Action Unlimited, and it not only provokes thought from its audience, but also urges us all to take a stand against the institutions that marginalize and dehumanize those that don’t conform.
The plot of All the Colors centers around Aster (Caleigh Hogan), Red (Jay Pascual), and Violet (Tyler Rexhouse), a group of young trans people in a possible near-future where gender non-conformity is classified as a mental illness, trans folks are considered a danger to themselves and others, and they risk being involuntarily committed to a psychiatric institution and subjected to dehumanizing “treatments” in the name of “curing” them. Aster’s new mental health provider Rae (Catie Lasek) is reluctant to embrace these radical new treatments, while her superior Mike (Clem Washington-Flowers) pushes the establishment’s agenda.
The writing by Eleah Jayne Peal and J Scala is authentic, sharp, clever, and deeply personal. The characters feel like regular people caught up in a dystopian narrative that feels uncomfortably close to reality, echoing some of the real-life atrocities that were committed in mental asylums and gay conversion camps not too long ago. There’s no happy ending here, only an earnest plea to potential allies to lend their voices to the voiceless before this fiction becomes reality.
The cast are all excellent. Hogan has a knack for the impassioned monologues Aster has throughout. Pascual and Rexhouse get plenty of laughs in the early scenes, and handle the heavier emotional beats just as well. Lasek manages to remain sympathetic despite the grim circumstances. Washington-Flowers is brutally cold and detached as the voice of the establishment, yet there’s a sense of vulnerability that hints at just how fragile their perceived authority really is.
Structurally, the show is a bit unusual. The opening scene is an interpretive dance routine, and the following narrative scenes are interspersed with segments of spoken word poetry and abstract choreography that feels almost dream-like. The abstract scenes are evocative, if a little heavy-handed at times. Audiences hoping for something more grounded might be left feeling lost by some of the symbolism, but the narrative sections are strong enough to hold everything together.
The lighting design (M Pomazal-Flanders) lends itself brilliantly to that symbolism, projecting dichotomies of pink and blue, and later red and violet. The show equates gender with light, pointing out how lenses color our perceptions of reality, illustrating that there is more nuance than two colors can effectively show, and even asking us to consider light outside the visible spectrum (infrared and ultraviolet). The lighting reflects all of this, and it makes the whole production that much more effective artistically.
The passion that went into creating All the Colors is plain to see in the finished production. The cast aren’t just playing characters, they’re expressing something personal and of dire importance to them. This is a show that needs to be witnessed, not just by gender-queer folks who want to feel seen and allies to their cause, but by anyone who has yet to understand their struggle. It’s beautiful, challenging, and well worth your time.
Creative Action Unlimited presents All the Colors, written and directed by Eleah Jayne Peal and J Scala, runs from May 1st – 9th, at The Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River Street in Troy, NY. Cast: Caleigh Hogan as Aster, Catie Lasek as Rae, Jay Pascual as Red, Tyler Rexhouse as Violet, and Clem Washington-Flowers as Mike.
Producer: Michael Kennedy. Tech Director: Michael A. Lake. Lighting Design and Operation: M Pomazal-Flanders. Sound Design and Operation: Andrew Deitch. Graphic Design: Tony Pallone.
Performance dates are Friday and Saturday, May 1 – 9. Friday curtains are at 7:30 pm, Saturday night curtains at 7:30pm, and Saturday matinees are at 4:00 pm. Tickets are $20. Runs approximately 75 minutes without intermission. Creative Action Unlimited recommends this production for ages 16 and up. Tickets are available online. Visit https://creativeactionunlimited.com/current-season for more information.