Before I started to write this review for “America, Who Hurt You?” I went back in my archives and found the review I wrote for Sarah Jones‘ “Bridge and Tunnel.”  It was 2005, downtown at the Culture Project, and it was being presented by Meryl Streep.  The show moved to Broadway, where it got a special Tony Award.  It was made into a movie, with another to follow, “Sell By Date,” that explored people in the sex and film industry and incorporates several of Jones’s now-stock characters.  Jones has appeared at the Aspen Festival as well as on The Moth, and presented a TED Talk, has created her own podcast “America Who Hurt You?”  and she may be applying for interplanetary transfer any day.

This is a woman on a mission and in a hurry.  Her mission is to get us all to listen to one another.  The way she listened to her father quote the Declaration of Independence over and over.  The way she listened to her elders, her cousins, and her neighbors.  Jones is a walking compendium of folks, and she is a willing conduit.

As a matter of fact, she brings us into this show by quoting “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people…” and puts us on notice that we will be looking at ourselves as we are 250 years later.

This show is reminiscent of “What The Constitution Means To Me” by Heidi Schreck, which we reviewed.  Two fierce women tackling history, identity, and truth.  And both ending up on Broadway.

Much of the first half of “America, Who Hurt You?” introduces Jones’ posse: Lorraine, Rashid, Nereida, and Bella (these characters are regulars on her podcast).  Like her earlier show, these characters seem to be presented as a way for Jones to demonstrate her acting chops, which are considerable.  They do not, however, further the story or help us see where Jones is leading us.  It is not until well into the piece, when the characters of America and Britain are fully revealed, that we get a hefty dose of guidance.  America is presented as the adolescent she is.  A mere 250 years old. Of course, we are speaking only of the American immigrant settlers’ history – not of the Native Americans who themselves have thousands of years of history here.  Britain is presented as a reassuring Nanny who has thousands of years under her belt and must explain that to America that all of the past needs to be examined – not just the sparklers and champagne.  Sound familiar?

As part of the lesson, Jones brings us several characters over three centuries who have stories they want to tell, and we need to hear.  This is where Jones shines because she disappears while we watch these characters emerge.  These characters are the meat of the piece.  They lay down their stories without recrimination or regret.  The truth needs no embellishment.  A nod to Jiyoun Chang and Stephania Bulbarella for creating simple and spectacular visuals here.

Jones brings the story to a close, warning us that we are close to the edge of our own existence unless we collectively take action.  She asks us to rise, hold our own tender hearts, and remember that we CAN do something.  If we look and LISTEN to one another.

I would have liked more specificity.  Jones raises so many questions and delivers so many truths that the message becomes murky.  Who did hurt America?  I don’t know – all of us maybe?

Jones’ intention, however, is clear.

…when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…

AMERICA, WHO HURT YOU? by Sarah Jones, directed by Eric Ting

The production’s creative team is Jiyoun Chang (Scenic and Lighting Designer), Toni-Leslie James (Costume Designer), Palmer Hefferan (Sound Designer), Stefania Bulbarella (Projection Designer), and Thomas Jenkeleit (Properties Supervisor). Zachry J. Bailey is the Production Stage Manager.

Presented by National Black Theatre (NBT) and Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA), in association with Foment Productions, Cinereach, and Jayson Jackson, at Theatre For A New Audience, Polonsky Shakespeare Center (262 Ashland Pl, Brooklyn).  THROUGH OCTOBER 4.  Tickets Here