There’s nothing more relevant than redlining in Minneapolis when its ramifications still affect its residents to this day. The Minnesota Department of Transportation recognized I-94 as breaking up entire communities in the 1960s to make the suburbs more accessible for the white people moving to them.
Now, Minnesota has finally turned to its residents to try to repair the damage and has released 10 alternative options to improve 94. Evaluation plans are set to be shared in early 2025.
Yet, “Behind the Sun,” a nonfiction account of redlining in ‘50s-era Minneapolis, doesn’t feel as pertinent as it should.
Written by Stanley Kipper and Laura Drake, “Sun” tells the story of Kipper’s real father, Obie Kipper (Darius Dotch); his wife, Mary (Charla Marie Bailey) and their son Tyler (Josaviah Kawala) in 1956 Minneapolis. The play follows their quest to buy a house in a white neighborhood above 42nd Street to live in a safer area and access a better public school. Their white Jewish friends Abe Kaplan (Scott Witebsky) and Angela Kaplan (Jane Froiland) aid them throughout.
Multiple scenes kick off the play revolving around problems the Kippers face while living in their neighborhood: Mary’s friend is snatched from a bus stop, and Tyler’s teachers refuse to call an ambulance for him when his appendix bursts at school.
All of this is countered by wrought arguments between Obie and Mary about moving, always trying to get away from the prying ear of their son.
Dotch’s acting is a highlight of the show, delivering a stunning performance in Act 2 as he breaks down about the racism his character’s family is facing. Bailey stands her ground but struggles in scenes with non-union actor Kawala, who plays the character like he is in a Disney Channel comedy rather than a dramatic play. Cue the slapstick deliveries of “Mom and Dad are talking” with looks to the audience.
Speaking of which, “Sun” seems all too eager to wink-and-nudge at the audience any chance it can get, sometimes distractingly so. Every moment a Minnesotan stereotype, city or restaurant is mentioned, the actors practically wait for the audience to laugh. This is most noticeable with Froiland’s character, Angela. The actor does what she can with the underwritten character, often making fun quips about how small her Minnesota hometown is and how she loves its restaurants.
The drama heats up in Act 2 as the two families enact a plan to swindle real estate agent Merle Swanson (James Ramlet) into selling Obie a house. These dramatic scenes are played as comedic and, oddly, sexual by Ramlet, making for a confusing juxtaposition with Dotch and Witebsky’s dramatic performances. This is all despite the character’s writing as a racist, cruel overlord in the real estate industry.
The casting issues are somewhat remedied by the History Theatre’s always-stellar technical expertise. Scenic designer Rick Poleneck boosts the reality of each scene with his design of both houses, complete with period-accurate props and real food for the actors to eat.
But it doesn’t take away from some of the script’s cheeseball moments that oftentimes spell out big-picture issues to the audience about racism and public safety. The play even ends with a monologue about how great everything is now, complete with a name-of-the-play drop and a fade-to-black happy family scene straight out of a ‘60s sitcom.
At its most poignant, the script details a Black man’s mental breakdown over frustration about his family’s struggles with systemic racism. But it merely skims the surface on ideas about Jewish-Black solidarity and antisemitism that are prevalent in the story.
Overall, though, the history behind “Sun”’s plot proves the show to be a valuable watch. At times, I couldn’t believe the things I was watching on stage happened in real life.
Acting aside, racial codes are still in mortgages today and continue to affect the Twin Cities by way of modern segregation. The story of Obie Kipper fighting these long-standing norms is instantly a unique story any Minnesotan should know.
“Behind the Sun” plays at the History Theatre through Oct. 13.
Anya Capistrant-Kinney can be reached at capi2087@stthomas.edu.