Ubuntu Theater’s premiere is set in an Oakland encampment
It’s heartening to hear about the extended run of Ubuntu Theater Project’s premiere of Lisa Ramirez’s “Down Here Below,” a captivating, up-close glimpse into a West Oakland homeless encampment.
Likewise, the fact that a recent matinee performance of the pithy, 22-character, 65-minute drama was sold out also positively indicates that some people who have homes aren’t necessarily blind to the plight of those who don’t.
While the show is based on Maxim Gorky’s 1902 “The Lower Depths,” a pessimistic view of poor Russians living in a shelter near the Volga, audiences needn’t be familiar with the social realism classic to appreciate “Down Here Below.”
Directed with empathy yet realism by Michael French, “Down Here Below” depicts some harsh realities: most of the people in the camp are not in their right minds, they’re hungry, mad, spacey and/or addicted.
