‘The things Spokane can do are incredible’: Stage Left Theater wins national title for ‘perfection’ of a play

Spokane’s own Stage Left Theater is the best in the nation.

At least according to judges at a national community theater competition last week in Louisville, Kentucky, where the troupe’s performance of “Pass Over” was decorated with various honors, including a best of show award.

The troupe won the grand title of Overall Outstanding Production for “Pass Over.” Director Malcolm Pelles won Best Director, and the cast of Matthew Slater, Dahveed Bullis and Danny Anderson received the title for Best Ensemble.

The competition, AACTFest 2023, is a biennial weeklong festival put on by the American Association of Community Theatre. It features 12 theaters from across the nation, each champions in their respective regions, vying for victories in several categories like set design, lighting and costuming.

“Pass Over” is a modern retelling of “Waiting for Godot,” starring two Black men on a street corner commiserating about their experience stuck in a cycle, waiting to “pass over” into the promised land. Originally written by Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu, inspired by the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012, the play offers inescapable social commentary through obscurity and humor in uncomfortable truths.

Having worked on the play for over a year, Bullis, who plays Moses, said it gained new relevance at every rehearsal after the latest mass shooting or instance of police brutality. The perpetual cycle of violence mirrors the cycle the protagonists find themselves in, he said.

“I don’t think history repeats, but it rhymes. It just keeps happening, and even though it might look like it’s not happening the same way, the end results are still the same,” Bullis said. “It still ends with a Black body on the ground, murdered in front of their community.”

The theater performed the play in its regular season last June. After positive reception from local audiences, the team decided it would be a fitting entry to AACTFest’s preliminary, a statewide competition in February. For the first time in the troupe’s history, the team swept the competition, earning titles in lighting, sound, set design, acting, direction and overall production. Victories there ushered them to a regional showcase in March, where they again took home the trophy and qualified for last week’s national competition.

This yearlong endeavor turned the troupe into a well-oiled machine with its sights on one goal: to communicate a story. Winning best overall production in the nation was just a bonus.

“The commitment to the moment was next-level. I mean, I’m just always going to remember the connection, human connection,” Bullis said. “For that hour that ‘Pass Over’ was presented, I know for sure we were all connected in that room.”

The group was required to follow strict time and space limitations or risk disqualification. The crew, a two-person team of Stage Left Theater’s Artistic Director Jeremy Whittington and Stage Manager Michael Schmidt, had precisely 10 minutes to set up the stage and another 10 to tear down; meanwhile, the performance itself couldn’t last longer than an hour.

To meet these requirements, and through months of rehearsal, the troupe turned the art into a science, timing everything perfectly and hitting cues precisely . In its performance, the troupe met time limits with minutes to spare.

“We know every breath and step that those fellas take on the stage,” Whittington said. “We built that thing to be a perfect presentation.”

The judges agreed.

“I have no notes. Perfection,” AACTFest judge Jeff Calhoun, a Tony-nominated director and choreographer, said after a standing ovation.

Beyond “Pass Over,” Stage Left Theater members are well-decorated at AACTFest. Lighting Designer Alana Shepherd placed second in a separate competition at the festival for her light work in a past production of “Sweeney Todd.” Board member Misty Shipman received a special recognition award for continuous efforts to bring Indigenous stories to the stage. Bullis also won the award for Best Monologue in another competition at the festival, performing an original piece against almost 50 other actors.

“If anything, I just hope to inspire Spokane. We went there being one of the only people from this side of America, representing the entire region, and Spokane came out winning,” Bullis said. “The things that Spokane can do are incredible.”