Notes on "Taking Over"

The one man show, Taking Over, at the Berkeley Rep was written and performed by Danny Hoch is about the gentrification of the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn from the perspective of the gentrifiers and of the gentrified. There are young neighborhood men, a black woman, and naive and cynical interlopers. It is an interesting subject entertainingly and movingly presented. The humor is sharp and cutting, and the audience laughed heartily even when we were the target.

There is an odd thing that happens when a neighborhood moves up economically. Residents become nostalgic for the poorer times. Some of Hoch's characters reminisce fondly about the crack dominated days of the eighties.

It got me thinking that K and I have been on both sides, in our time in Niles. We moved into our narrow little working class street. Our neighbors were retired steel workers, bikers, bar patrons, drug dealers, Viet Nam vets, and fishermen. The old time residents were suspicious and we knew it. We were "resident tourists", as a Hoch character calls the new Williamsburg buyers. We were attracted by the "character" of the place. The long time residents were the character.

A few years later a new wave of young professionals and tech workers moved into our part of Niles. They had money. They were different and strange. We felt they did not understand us. We missed the old days with the drug busts at 2:00AM across the street.

Californians are a people built to surf in other people's culture. We eat their food. We acquire and mispronounce their patois. We adopt their architecture. We think we understand. We think we see ourselves in them, while we are pushing them to the margins. That's because, following in the footsteps of Richard Henry Dana, we are a vigorous and energetic people. It is interesting to see how we are seen.

- J

Image is scaled down version from the show's promotional image, and as such, constitutes a fair use.