The Submission

Jeff Talbott’s The Submission is an explosive tale of race, sexuality, and prejudice. A young Caucasian playwright pens a play under a pseudonym about growing up poor and African-American. When a major theater festival accepts the work for production, he panics: no one will take it seriously if they know he wrote it. So he hires an African-American actress to “play” the playwright. His boyfriend thinks it’s a terrible idea, as does his best friend. And the actress has serious doubts. But the plan proceeds, and among the humor of the situation, the play considers some very important issues of racism, homophobia, cultural appropriation, and the differences/similarities in struggles for equality among various communities.