Last weekend for FORTRESSED: a theatrical farce borne from a reaction to riots

It’s the final weekend for FORTRESSED at Theatre 29. Described as an absurd comical farce set in medieval times, FORTRESSED is an original play being brought back to life by the writer and director Sharianne Greer. She was a guest on the Z107.7 Up Close Show earlier this month, where she discussed the play with host Gary Daigneault. Written thirty years ago in response to the riots in Los Angeles that followed the trial of Rodney King in 1992, Greer explained that her play is a reaction to those real life incidents. Here is a snippet from that conversation. 

“The verdict came out on the four policemen as not guilty and the town blew up. And for those of us that were there in LA when this happened, it was very traumatic. But most of the time we were not involved, we were watching it on TV.

“You could understand why people were burning down the town. But at the same time, it was also like, no, don’t burn down the town. That’s your town!

“People around the world, throughout history, have rioted and looted when conditions were oppressive or some terrible injustice has occurred. Riots happen for systemic reasons, generally. So this play Fortress is a comedic reaction. It is a farce. 

“It’s 30 years later, so you didn’t just live through the riots two years ago. But what still holds true is that there is a systemic hierarchy that has the very wealthy at the top and all the way down the line to the very poorest. And you do see that in the characters of Fortress and how this hierarchical system is what really, I think, creates problems like riots. It’s because things are not fair, basically. 

“So if someone would ask you for the short answer, what is Fortress all about? It’s a farce about a riot. “

“FORTRESSED” finishes its run this weekend. Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:00pm and Sunday Matinee is at 2:30 pm.

You can get tickets at theatre29.org

You can listen to the full conversation with Sharianne Greer here: