美国国家公共电台 NPR Musical 'East Of The River' Examines A Gentrifying Anacostia

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

A musical open for one night only in Washington, D.C., that asks, what threatens a great inner city American neighborhood - crime and poverty or organic produce and free-range poultry¹?

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "EAST OF THE RIVER")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) And in four months, assuming everything goes as planned, we break ground right here on Good Hope and 17th for the very first phase of the project - a brand-new Whole Foods.

(CROSSTALK)

SIMON: We went to one of the last rehearsals² of "East Of The River" under the bright lights of a basement room in the Anacostia Public Library in Washington, D.C. Anacostia is one of D.C.'s poorest neighborhoods. As the song says, east of the river and east of the end of the Earth.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "EAST OF THE RIVER")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS #1: (As characters) East of the river and east of the town, east of the end of the Earth, Anacostia.

SIMON: As D.C. becomes wealthier and whiter, housing prices in Anacostia are starting to rise. Developers eye this neighborhood just across the water from the heart of the Capitol.

STAR JOHNSON: Something that I noticed while walking down Potomac Avenue was a white woman with a stroller.

SIMON: Star Johnson is the show's creator. She grew up in the area.

JOHNSON: And I was thinking, what - where am I? Something's changed. Something has fundamentally changed.

SIMON: But what do you call that change?

JOHNSON: It depends on who you ask. Some people will say gentrified. Some people will say it's areas in transition or that have been transitioned. Some people will say areas where the complete soul has been sucked out of it. It just depends on who you ask.

SIMON: And Star Johnson asked many residents of Anacostia how they feel about the change they can see beginning to come into their old neighborhood.

JOHNSON: You don't have some of these tropes that you've seen before - you know, the mean white guy saying, get out of this neighborhood; this is my neighborhood now. And you don't have all the black people saying, don't take our neighborhood away from us. It's varied³ reactions.

SIMON: It's a musical, too.

JOHNSON: It's a musical. A playwright⁴ would probably disagree with me, but I think musical theater is the quickest, most effective way to get to the heart of a story.

SIMON: To move people. To reach into them.

JOHNSON: Yeah. In musical theater, when the dialogue reaches to a certain point, the emotion is just so strong that people sing.

SIMON: Here's Brittney Sankofa playing Nikki, an Anacostia native. She sees hope in the possible arrival of all that organic goodness.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "EAST OF THE RIVER")

BRITTNEY SANKOFA: (As Nikki, rapping) Manchego cheese, fresh nuts and hand-carved meats, farm-raised eggs and bags of gluten-free everything. Sipping⁵ tea with the Queen of England, I'm-a get fat from eating even if my little wallet takes a beating. Picture me standing⁶ round this posh olive bar. You want to know about delicacies⁸? Come sit with me. I'm bourgeoisie. While y'all spending y'all last dollar on the same old din⁷, I'm Jacques Pepin. I'm trying to be like those white folks.

SIMON: There is not currently a Whole Foods in Anacostia or reported plans for one. But it lurks⁹ over the horizon in the plot of "East Of The River," captured in this song called "Manchego Cheese."

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "EAST OF THE RIVER")

SANKOFA: (As Nikki, rapping) What I know is - I know this for sure - I can someday have more grass-fed, low-glycemic, non-GMO. I can someday have more. Rooftop terrace...

SIMON: The show features a pretty fair debate between a young city planner played by LJ Moses, who's come back home with an urban planning degree and plans to improve Anacostia, and a neighborhood friend played by Alesia Ashley.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "EAST OF THE RIVER")

ALESIA ASHLEY: (As character) I'm proud of this place, to be a product of this place. I'm sorry. I'm not going to apologize for that.

L. J. MOSES: (As character) You don't see the crime and neglect in this neighborhood? Something has to give.

ASHLEY: (As character) I see it, but I don't see how this project is going to fix anything. The people in this neighborhood aren't going to benefit 'cause we won't be here in five years.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS #2: (As characters, singing) Shine replaces grit¹⁰. Style replaces spirit. Come on; hear it. There's somebody moving in. New residents take precedent¹¹. They're seizing all the benefits. At what expense? At what expense? At what expense?

SIMON: But Star Johnson doesn't see the show she's put together about the costs of going from urban blight¹² to artisanal lattes as a black-and-white story of villains¹³ and victims.

JOHNSON: I always say gentrification is not good or bad. It's good and bad. And I don't know that it always answers the question that needs to be asked. I think it answers a question but not necessarily the one that needs to be asked.

SIMON: Well, tell me that one.

JOHNSON: How do you retain the soul of these communities that have been here forever while making it a safer and happier place for the people to live? How do you do that?

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "EAST OF THE RIVER")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, singing) Rivers form a barrier. No one's going to bury us.

SIMON: "East Of The River" opened last night for its first and so far only scheduled performance. The show ends with a rousing vow¹⁴ that makes you think the story it tells and the people who sing it will be back.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "EAST OF THE RIVER")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, singing) No one's going to bury us.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS #3: (As characters, singing) No one's going to bury us.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS #2: (As character, singing) No one's going to bury us.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS #3: (As characters, singing) No one's going to bury us.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS #2: (As character, singing) No one's going to bury us.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS #3: (As characters, singing) No one's going to bury us.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS #2: (As character, singing) No one's going to bury us.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS #3: (As characters, singing) No one's going to bury us.

1 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

2 rehearsals   

n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复

参考例句：

• The earlier protests had just been dress rehearsals for full-scale revolution. 早期的抗议仅仅是大革命开始前的预演。
• She worked like a demon all through rehearsals. 她每次排演时始终精力过人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

4 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

5 sipping   

v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She sat in the sun, idly sipping a cool drink. 她坐在阳光下懒洋洋地抿着冷饮。
• She sat there, sipping at her tea. 她坐在那儿抿着茶。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

8 delicacies   

n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到

参考例句：

• Its flesh has exceptional delicacies. 它的肉异常鲜美。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• After these delicacies, the trappers were ready for their feast. 在享用了这些美食之后，狩猎者开始其大餐。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗

9 lurks   

n.潜在，潜伏；（lurk的复数形式）vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Behind his cool exterior lurks a reckless and frustrated person. 在冷酷的外表背后，他是一个鲁莽又不得志的人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Good fortune lies within Bad, Bad fortune lurks within good. 福兮祸所倚，祸兮福所伏。 来自互联网

10 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

11 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

12 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。

13 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。