Chisa Hutchinson is a poignant playwright who took a serious issue and delivered it through a powerful script that looked at how minorities are simply used to make money for corporations in any way that serves society.
In her play “The Bleeding Class,” which recently finished a sold-out run at 59E59th as part of the AMPLIFY Festival (in which three of Hutchinson’s works being featured), an escort who hailed from the Dominican Republic named Adina “Sugar” Moreno was the world’s answer to a mystery plague that was killing hundreds of millions of people around the world. Her blood was able to not only resist the virus, but destroy it. In fact, when she agreed to be experimented on by a pharmaceutical company to save people’s lives, especially dying children, she embarked on over nine months of being treated like a lab rat. She was asked all types of personal questions and made to feel less than human. All the pharmaceutical company cared about was the money it would make by developing a cure based on Sugar’s blood. Sugar had a very unusual relationship with Dr. Pennington, the Black doctor who observed her and talked with her about all types of subjects.
Sugar made Dr. Pennington realize that she was not just a sex worker people might look down upon; she was an intelligent human being, had feelings, and was worthy of respect. Sugar dealt with constantly being hidden from society during the experiments and being kept in the basement of the facility for all those months. Sugar had been sexually abused from the age of 12 and had a story as to why she had become a sex worker. Despite her circumstances Sugar wanted to do something in life to make her mother proud.
Eventually, when a cure is found, her name and information are never part of the press conference. While she does come away with a great deal of money for her troubles, there is also a secret factor that the public does not know. Dr. Pennington discovered that Sugar’s blood not only kills the virus, but anything else that enters the body, including sperm. The pharmaceutical company was taking bows for its discovery of a vaccine and had immediate plans to get it to economically challenged communities, which is of course mostly minority populations. When Dr. Pennington realized the double-edged sword that this cure brings and tried to give a warning that it would be genocide, he paid the ultimate price.
The racism and greed depicted in this play were blatant and overwhelming. The message in this play left the audience speechless. Hutchinson has a bold voice that needs to be heard.
The cast of this play worked as a cohesive ensemble. Reginald L. Barnes delivered a tremendous performance as Dr. Wesley Pennington. He had to deal with the racism that he faced as a Black doctor in this setting, and he had to realize that Sugar was much more than just a test subject. He also had a choice to make about his own beliefs and how far he would go to save humanity. Tamar Lopez was fantastic as Sugar. She was outspoken, deviant, compassionate, and empathetic. She delivered her character with a great deal of heart and showed that people can have many layers to their lives. Jackson Hayes (who was memorable as Wyatt Kilgore/Thomas Faraday) and Vincent Szutenbach both delivered strong performances as they represented the racism and total disregard and disrespect for the life of this woman. Cezar Williams’ direction moved the play along at a stunning pace.
Hutchinson’s next two plays will be “Redeemed,” running from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, and “Amerikin” from March 1-April 13, 2025. Make plans to experience her work. For more information, visit www.59E59.org.
