2022 Dan Hoyle: Talk To Your People (SF)

Dan Hoyle's new solo show was sparked during month four of the COVID-19 crisis, June 2020, when protests over the death of George Floyd were being held across the country and a pandemic shell-shocked America was confronting issues related to race, privilege, masculinity, and power. Stuck at home in Oakland, Hoyle spoke to a Black theater colleague in New York who suggested that he consider delving into how liberal white folks were dealing with these reckonings. “Go talk to your people,” she urged. This seemed impossible at first given COVID, but Hoyle cautiously started meeting strangers in parks and beaches, and talked to neighbors, old friends, and people he’d met throughout his travels. A show began to emerge: a comedy, an inquiry, a meditation on how society got to this moment, and how humanity might move forward. Talk To Your People showcases a portfolio of characters that are unique, funny, and searching – all brought to the stage in Hoyle’s signature style. Together, they illuminate and juxtapose a varied slice of white liberal America. The show is punctuated by songs that explore Hoyle’s thoughts on these issues, and by video footage shot by Hoyle in Oakland and the Bay Area during the pandemic.