Written By: Jayme Face
We first spoke to Gregg Daniel about his role on the series For Life now we’re catching up with him about his latest project a one man play “The Duat”.
Photo Credit: Diana Ragland
upfrontNY: Can you tell us about your latest project “The Duat” and your character in this one man play?
Gregg Daniel: It was a dream project. It fell right into my lap. They approached me. I know Robert Q. Mason, the writer. I know his work I don’t know him personally very well. I know one of the associate assistant directors at the CTG theatre group. They came to me, asked me and I hesitated. I thought there’s no way I’m going to do a solo performance piece in two weeks. I’m solo and it’s this wordy thing, but something about that story, there was something about the writing, the rhythm of it; it was just beautiful. I thought ‘Wow do I really want to pass on this?’, but I just thought I wouldn’t be able to pull it off to be honest. It was my wife that finally said Gregg you might want to think about this. I was just fearful. I hadn’t been on stage in a while and being on stage is a lot different than being in front of a camera. Even though there was no audience there was still four cameras. Something in me finally said ‘You know what Gregg you should take the challenge’. It’s one of the most fulfilling, by far gratifying artistic experiences I’ve had in 2021 and probably 2020. It’s been amazing. I’m not solo really because I do have a percussionist, David Leach, who’s brilliant. He doesn’t speak, but I know he’s there. What a strange and wonderful story! It’s about this region known as “The Duat” and how Cornelius has to work through, well he really has to surrender and submit his culpability before he sort of reconciles and is redeemed. For me it really is sort of redemption and reconciliation with himself. That’s because he’s been running from himself after the death of the two black men, the two panthers. It’s really a story of reconciliation. I had a ball. It was a lot of work, but I had a blast and I got to dance! Imagine that! A lot of people are saying wow they didn’t see the movement coming because in a lot of performance pieces like that you don’t see that unless they are known as a dancer. Roger told me right off the bat that he always sees this guy moving. He’s always in a state of motion. Even when he’s standing still he’s moving all the time. That was such a great clue to the character that Roger gave me. Then of course we had Michael Tomlin III, our choreographer. He was just terrific; to work with a middle aged body and to know how to push as well as how to reserve it takes skill.
upfrontNY: This play takes a real person and puts them in a mythological setting. That is a unique character to play, how did you go about that?
Gregg Daniel: I was a child of the 60s. I was a child of the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panthers. I knew all about that. I lived through that and for this young guy to be able to access that time was sort of remarkable to me because he is sort of a young guy. I remember that time. I remember the call for black power and freedom. I remember the danger that was involved in it. So it wasn’t that far removed from me at all. I remember how the energy and the focus was as intense as the Black Lives Matter movement is today. It was so intense and change was in the air. Standing up for ourselves and dismantling white power, privilege and white supremacy. It was as electric as those times so it suited me real well. I remember being in college and being the first in my high school to say ‘Why don’t we have black authors in the library? or Why aren’t there more things on black poets?’ There was a time when schools didn’t have a black education division or curriculum. It fit me well in that it was a time I lived through and remembered. I was caught that this younger guy, this playwright, could actually conjure that time with some knowledge that really wasn’t of his time.
upfrontNY: As you said this is a serious play with heavy themes; was there a certain thing that stuck out the most to you or that you think audiences will be taken aback by?
Gregg Daniel: Character journey wise, I think it was the sense of wanting to belong. I think every person of color in America, quite frankly, wants to belong in a way that is actually fulfilling and encompassing. The thing about white privilege and white power that people don’t realize is you don’t feel you belong. Somehow you always feel like the other even though you might have been born here and raised here. There’s always those microaggressions that happen. They call it living while black. You know you’re in a park by yourself suddenly the police are called on you. So the sense of wanting to belong and be fully enfranchised in society. I think every person of color, every woman, LGBTQ+ person has that sense of wanting to be fully embraced. I think if anything the piece speaks to someone who always has an intense desire to be a part of it, to be embraced, to feel centered in it and he doesn’t because of racial, political, other matters. That’s what was keeping him from fully being embraced. The work that’s going on now in corporations and board rooms suddenly everyone is leaning toward equity, diversion and inclusion. I don’t think they realized how un-inclusive it was even when they thought it was. To be fully engaged you need mixed boards, you need diversity. I hope there’s a sense that Cornelius is searching for what we all want to be which is a full part of American society and have the same shot, the same rights as everybody else; no more, but no less. They want the same access to education, opportunity, housing etc. In many ways Cornelius never got those things and it always made him feel like the other.
upfrontNY: Speaking of those issues, last time we spoke, we spoke about Black Lives Matter and the election. Now a year later, how do you think things stand now?
Gregg Daniel: I feel really good about it because of equity, diversity, inclusion. So many companies I know and am involved with have contacted me taking this really hard look at what these policies are and if they are truly inclusive and diverse. It’s really amazing to see what’s going on. They’re hiring people and firms outside of their companies to bring in and really take a look at bias, unconscious bias. I think that would not have happened if it were not for 2020 and the murder of George Floyd. I don’t think we would see this ground swell of companies saying we need to really increase our diversity, our inclusion, our equity. I know companies who have embraced this. The climate is rife now for examining how can we help dismantle it because obviously bias to one is bias to all. What’s nice is they’re not calling on an individual and saying what’s your take on this? What’s you’re take on bigotry and racial injustice? They’re doing it themselves. Before something would happen and you would get that standard call, well-meaning, but listen I’m trying to understand you’re asking me, but the work that needs to be done doesn’t involve me; it involves you. Talk to your grandfather or your aunt, your uncles and your families about diversity and inclusion. Talk to your place of work if you see unconscious bias going on. Look at how they treat women or LGBTQ community or someone Asian . Do you spot it. If so then you are tasked to speak on it. I’m thrilled individuals, organizations, and companies are taking it on themselves to examine themselves and see if improvement can be had. Seeing people of all races coming to the forefront really set a tone. Younger people always lead saying you know what this isn’t right. If I stay silent while this goes on, while an officer can kill this unarmed black man I truly am condoning it. I am part of the problem. It was great to see such diversity in the protests and the marches. We all need to respond to issues that are special to that one group.
I’m heartened but I’m shocked and saddened by things that happened last year; a loss of so many lives in the pandemic. I think we as a nation are still traumatized by death and what happened around us, but I am heartened by so many folks of goodwill who are saying enough is enough. We stand for equal rights. We do stand for everyone. That’s America at its best if you ask me. I’m on a soapbox, but that’s America at its best, it truly is.
upfrontNY: We last spoke earlier in the pandemic about how theatre may look when coming back and now that it is what are you noticing about it? How do you think it is all coming along?
Gregg Daniel: Several things. I think theatre companies will keep some kind of virtual unit in their programming. When they were forced to put their content online suddenly it blew up because companies didn’t want to be dormant for a year and a half. Going forward legit stage is going to find a way to keep online components in their programming.
I also think that what’s being programmed is being questioned itself. I know theatre companies said how can we be more inclusive in choice of playwrights and materials. They are searching a little harder for more diversity. There was a document published called “We See You White Theatre” all these luminaries from the stage world signed it and presented it to theaters. It’s a blistering indictment, written very well about programming and who you have on your board and who you have on stage.
I think eventually more theatres are going to make vaccines mandatory in the immediate scene. Hamilton you have to show your CDC card and valid id. I think more theatres are going to go that way because how do I ensure my own health of the crew and the actors unless I know everyone here is vaccinated. That is a policy I believe most theatre companies are adopting and will stick with because the pandemic is going to be here a while. They are coming up with solutions. Theatre is still striving and thriving. It didn’t go away and die in the year and a half when no one could get in the physical brick and mortar space; it went online and now that we’re making it back on stage we’re renewing that need to be in a house. if anything it’s renewed the need and the call for what theatre gives us.
upfrontNY: How did it feel to film a play and do it in this way as opposed to traditional theatre?
Gregg Daniel: There was no audience yet the camera crew were so sensitive to what I was doing, it felt like an audience. It’s just an adjustment. The values are the same. We had four cameras. We had cameras that could roam around so it’s not like I had to be stuck in any one place. If I wanted to go someplace and do something it wasn’t like they wouldn’t be able to record it. If you were aware of the camera it was following me in a very intimate way.
It felt good to be back on stage again. It felt good to be back with the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City on stage was just a religious experience. “Oh my god! I’m on stage again! I’m going to speak and use language.” That in and of itself was magical. Our director Taibi Magar was very good about them coming to me, not me having to adjust to them, but they were happy to adjust to what I was doing.
England’s been doing it for years at the National Theater. They are one of the best when it comes to these multiple cameras recorded show. It has forced us to do it as well, Americans, but you can capture it. Look at Hamilton on Disney+. That’s captured really well. They weren’t trying to hide the fact that they were in a theatre. It was not to be filmed as a film or a television show. Let’s celebrate the fact that we’re in a theatre and use that. We also took that position. Let’s not try to hide the fact that Gregg is in a theatre let’s use it. Let’s still have theatre, not masquerade as a film or television piece, and that was important.
upfrontNY: You’ve acted for a long time playing many roles; what type of role would be a dream role?
Gregg Daniel: I started as a classical actor. I was trained classical and I’ve sort of gotten away from the classics. It made me want to go back to the classicals again because of language, because Roger’s language is so poetic and so rhapsodic. If you don’t have a sensitivity towards language it’s hard to do a play like “The Duat”. It’s all about language in use, the music, the composition, the score, so it really made me want to go back and do Shakespeare. I want to wrestle with language. I want to mouth language again because I’ve always been in love with it. That was really my first exposure to theatre, using the beautiful language. Roger made me want to go to yet another playwright who is known for their language. In classical you have to be sensitized- if it’s metered, iambic pentameter, prose- you have to be sensitive to how you’re using language. It opened up that door for me again. I’m dying to go out there. I don’t care who it is Richard III, Othello, I’m just dying to be on stage again using language to communicate language. ‘The Duat” reminded me that language is king here. I even told Roger it’s so poetic, your score that you created. Each section required a different kind of instrument and that was reaching into the versatility I had as an actor.
upfrontNY: Are there any upcoming projects to look out for?
Gregg Daniel: I’m going to Mexico to work on a film called Impossible. It’s really quite interesting. It’s about a morbidly obese guy. He’s a person of color, people of color tend to be more prone to type II diabetes. It’s about his search to lose a hundred pounds and the actor really is going to lose 100 pounds. His name is Brandon Lewis. I did a film with him many years ago called Jericho.
I’m directing a play at A Noise Within Theatre, a classical theatre play. I’m going to be doing an August Wilson play, “7 Guitars”, which took place in 1948. I’m going into rehearsals for that soon. So there are a lot of projects not just acting, but stage directing as well. I’m just so thrilled to be creative and useful after sitting around for a year and half. It’s really nice to be active again and telling stories.
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