There is something unnerving, almost neurotic, about watching a play with the house lights up, when the performers can see the audience, and the audience can watch itself. (At least it is for this critic, who thinks it only polite to keep his note-taking inconspicuous, which becomes impossible when the audience is part of the scenery.) But some plays inflict their best damage at close quarters.
Pony World’s pressure cooker of a play with its impressively long title—We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, from the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years of 1884–1915—is a case in point. Consider this moment, roughly halfway through the production: Playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury has dropped us into a rehearsal room…
