As the lights come up, we find ourselves at the Frasier household, and preparations for Grandma’s birthday party are under way. Beverly is holding on to her sanity by a thread to make sure this party is perfect, but her chatty sister can’t help at all, her husband is listening as best he can, her brother is MIA, her daughter is a teenager, and maybe nothing is what it seems in the first place! Suddenly in Act Two, the rules of the play change and the voices of new characters enter the space.

As the play careens towards the unexpected conclusion, we’ve learned that Fairview is a searing examination of families, drama, the white gaze, privilege, perspective, and the insidiousness of white supremacy.

Under the direction of 2016 Steve Morrison Visionary Award winner Terrance Henderson, Fairview asks audiences to confront their ingrained perceptions, the deep roots of American prejudice, and the possible future that awaits when space is made for change. This fourth-wall-shattering new play, and the 2019 winner of The Pulitzer Prize for Drama, is one of the most stirring plays in recent American theatre history—and it’s right here at Trustus.

“Fairview travels towards the unresolvable, morphing from neatly structured, stereotypical familiarity into rampant chaos and then into fractured, inquisitive aftermath. It begins by giving us something we think we’ve seen before, then estranges us from it and from ourselves as viewers of it, then cracks the whole thing open entirely and forces everyone in the room, actors and audience, to reckon with the broken pieces.” –Vulture, Sarah Holdren

Fairview is supported by a generous grant from the National Endowment of the Arts. Funding from the NEA will be used to support training sessions and support for the creatives involved in the project, as well to fund talkbacks following performances. Talkbacks are scheduled following performances on April 30th, May 7th, and May 11th.