When it comes to being a superhero, no one expects the drawbacks that come with it. Zora, Jax, Mark and Andy in “Prowess” know the pain all too well.
Performed by the NIU School of Theatre and Dance, “Prowess,” written by Ike Holter and directed by Roxanna Conner, had performances from Friday through Sunday (Feb. 28 to March 2) and will be performing Wednesday through Friday (March 5 to 7) in the Stevens Building.
The play is dark and takes a grounded approach to superheroes. There are no Supermen or Captain Americas; just a former gang member, a survivor of a mugging, a graffiti artist and an awkward kid. The four try to make their community safer in a city where its officials don’t pay attention to what’s going on around them.
The first act of the play is how most superhero stories go. Mark (Hardy Louihis) wants to inspire people, so he sets up a self-defense class. Zora (Jaylin Turner) joins after hearing Mark will teach her how to defend. Jax (David Alvarado) is the pessimist saying that what Mark is doing isn’t going to work. Andy (Skylar Thompson) joins Mark and Zora after telling them that he witnessed his best friends die in a gas station and wants to combat the fear of being dead.
Training goes on and gets more intense with weapons. Jax talks to Mark and says what he does is tagging for remembrance of the dead. He doesn’t want Mark, Andy or Zora to die. The act ends with the four characters suited up to take down some bad guys.
Act 2 is where things get complicated and everyone feels different after the fight, for better or worse.
Mark made an impact as crime went down thanks to his team’s efforts. Zora wants their crusade to go further, but once someone knows violence, it takes a toll to try to leave it. Andy feels guilty about what he has done as he beat up someone under the assumption he was grabbing a gun while Jax worries about Andy’s safety.
The team slowly falls apart after Andy dies from a drive-by shooting. Jax goes back to tagging and Mark and Zora’s fight has less choreography and more primal rage. The play ends with Jax warning the audience to stay safe as people aren’t as safe as they think.
“Prowess” demonstrated incredibly performed choreography with its many fight scenes. The script was not meant for young children, as racial and homophobic slurs as well as swears were tossed around regularly. Some of the props included paint cans, a fake cigar, a backpack with tanks attached to it and boxing gear. The costumes in the show were outstanding, especially the hero suits that Zora, Mark, Jax and Andy would wear with signature colors of red, orange, green and blue. The play had many moments of comedy, such as Jax doing a Donald Trump impression.
Roxanna Conner, the director of the School of Theatre and Dance, held a talkback at the end of the show and expressed her process of how she made a welcoming community.
“The first thing we did was that we talked about needs and feeling vulnerable,” Conner said. “We lean into the uncomfortability and may or may not do what’s on the page.”
Skylar Thompson, a sophomore acting major, reflected on what it felt like playing the role of Andy.
“There’s aspects of Andy that I relate to,” Thompson said. “There are things you have to let go and have to leave behind when playing a character like this.”
Jaylin Turner, a third-year B.F.A student, elaborated on what’s going on when doing the extensive choreography and the message of “Prowess.”
“Nothing is going through my head as there’s really not enough room to be taken back,” Turner said. “The most important message is that everything you do affects everyone around you.”
The message is important not just to “Prowess” but to society as a whole. What goes around, whether good or bad, comes around.
