Former Radicals’ Regrets Depicted

'Something You Did' Depicts Former Radicals' Regrets

http://www.afro.com/sections/arts_entertainment/story.htm?storyid=2534

by Gregory Dale
September 15, 2010

How far is too far when fighting for something you believe in? And
how do you live with deep regret if you've hurt someone in the
process? The Willy Holtzman political play Something You Did explores
these questions and vies for an answer.

In the production, Alison Moulton, (played by actress Deborah
Hazlett), is now approaching her 30th year in prison for a radical
anti-war bombing that resulted in the death of a police officer. When
Alison's lawyer pitches a plan for her parole, she objects and
hatches her own plan. In efforts to garner her freedom, she wants to
reach out to Lenora (Aakhu Freeman), the daughter of the slain policeman.

For Freeman, getting into her role meant doing some extensive
research on the play's main source of inspiration­an actual radical
group that committed a series of crimes fueled by their beliefs.

"I read up on the woman [the main] character is based on­Kathy
Boudin, who was a member of the Weather Underground," Freeman told
the AFRO in a recent interview. "I did some reading on [them] and
watched some videos to basically give me a sense of the time and what
they were about."

The Weather Underground was a '60s leftist organization that wanted
to overthrow the U.S. government. In 1981, Boudin and other members
of the group robbed a Brinks armored car that led to the death of
three people. Following the incident, Boudin was caught and later
tried. After serving 22 years in prison, she was eventually released in 2003.

Heavily relying on the nature of regret and the uncertainty of
forgiveness, Something You Did also captures some important issues in
American society, which Freeman believes will leave a lasting
impression on audiences.

"The issues that we are dealing with in this society are not black
and white­they are grey," Freeman said. "We need some humanity and
empathy in figuring out what to do with people who commit crime and
what to do about the social injustices that [drive people] to commit
crimes. Hopefully it will be a catalyst for conversation."
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"Something You Did" debuted on Aug. 28 at Theater J and will run
until Oct. 3. For more information, visit: www.theaterj.org.

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