I attended “Off The Record” the same week as “The Fear of 13,” both of which are about the failings of the American criminal justice system. The self-described ‘”theatrical intervention” Off-Off Broadway could almost serve as a talk back for the Broadway play, which dramatizes a specific true story about a man unjustly imprisoned.

Early on in “Off the Record,” James Scruggs, its professorial-looking host and co-author, offers a true story as well, about himself: “I was addicted to crack and arrested twice in 1989. I found NA and have been clean since June 21, 1989. And I still have an active criminal record.”

It’s the last we hear about this. I wanted more – what does it mean to have an ‘active’ criminal record, and how does it affect him?  But “Off the Record: Acts of Restorative Justice” insists on a largely abstract and diffuse approach that is less a conventional work of theater than ninety minutes of riffs — statistics, historical facts, political rants, a role-playing demonstration, audience Q&As,  and monologues by metaphorical characters named The Conductor, The System and The Magician. presented vaguely like circus performers (with Scruggs as the MC), as if that is the best way to describe Law and Order in America.

“Tonight we share this space. There ain’t no metaphorical fuckin fourth wall between us, “says The Conductor. But of course that isn’t true. The Conductor is a character, portrayed by Obehi Agbede, who sees herself as “a wannabe revolutionary Black woman” and says “I deeply, desperately wanna activate my activism.” To the extent that there is an arc to this show (and there isn’t), it’s The Conductor’s search for a way to become an activist. “I need an accelerant.” Not soon after, bizarrely, as if taking the word ‘accelerant” literally, she tells us of the “800-3,000 acts of documented self immolation internationally since 1963, and then cites some half dozen specific examples. 

More illuminating (metaphorically speaking) are some of the statistics: 

“America is only 4.2 percent of the global population.Yet the American Criminal Justice System houses 20 percent of ALL incarcerated folk internationally.”

Fifty-eight countries care more about human rights than the U.S., according to U.S. News and World Report (source cited in the show)

 “1 out of every 5 Black male youth who survive to reach manhood will spend some time in prison” compared to 1 in 17 white men (source not cited)

I suspect that one’s attitude to “Off The Record” hinges on your attitude before hearing a word of it, which one might gauge from the flashing lights and sound of police sirens that greet the audience in the very first moments. 

Scruggs asked for a show of hands: “How many of y’all see police lights, and hear police sirens and say to yourself…Thank God… How many of y’all see police lights and hear police sirens and think to yourself…Oh Shit?”

“After counting, he adds: “Full disclosure, I am on team, Oh Shit!

Off The Record: Acts of Restorative Justice is at HERE Arts Center through April 19.
Written by James Scruggs and Thomas Giovanni
Directed by Michael Rohd and Annalisa Dias
Composer: Izzi Ramiksoon; Sound Designer: John Gasper; Scenic + Costumes Designer: Andreea Mincic; Lighting Designer: Poe Saegusa; Video Designer: Guy De Lancey; Graphic Designer: Michael O’Reilly
Cast: The Conductor: Obehi Agbede; The Magician: Murphy Lorenzo Applin Jr.; The System: Thomas Giovanni; Emcee: James Scruggs