Jungle's "A Jumping-Off Point" looks hard at storytelling and appropriation

Photo by Lauren B. Photography

Who gets to tell stories? Issues of cultural appropriation have bubbled up to the mainstream in recent years, and A Jumping-Off Point gives us an intriguing, complex look at the issue. You will have to move quickly to see it, as it closes this weekend at the Jungle Theater. 

This tight, three-person play centers on Leslie Wallace, a successful playwright who has just gotten her big television break with a series order from HBO. However, a figure from her playwrighting past has come to haunt her in the guise of Andrew. The two studied in the same cohort in college, and white Andrew took a stab at a play about the Mississippi delta.

Leslie found it not just awful, but offensive, so she took it to make her own. Now, Andrew is looking for some credit. From there, the play spirals into the mad world of television production, with Andrew in tow as an unwanted producer. 

Inda Craig-Galvan's play is best when it works under your skin, examining uncomfortable topics, often centered on cultural appropriation and who gets to tell stories. The script hints at the madness of television production, especially around the above topics, but could have benefitted some additional characters to flesh those ideas out. We do get Leslie's best friend, Miriam, who finds herself stuck between the two other characters.

The cast is fantastic and director Sha Cage mines the humor and the menace (especially Gabriel Murphy's creepy Andrew) out of the material.

A Jumping-Off Point runs through May 19 at the Jungle Theater.