Displaying items by tag: Shanesia Davis

Like the dream deferred in Langston Hughes' poem that inspired its title, Court Theatre's latest production of "A Raisin in the Sun" simmers, sags, and occasionally explodes with raw intensity. Director Gabrielle Randel-Bent's contemporary vision crackles with urgency, even as it wrestles with the delicate balance between modern resonance and historical authenticity.

Andrew Boyce's masterful set design emerges as the production's crowning achievement. His deconstructed Chicago kitchenette apartment becomes a character itself – a cramped urban cage where privacy is as scarce as hope. The shared bathroom, visible just beyond the family's domain, serves as a constant reminder of the Youngers' station in life. Outside the city of Chicago pushing its way in threatening to devour the inhabitants in grit and grime.

The stellar ensemble breathes fierce life into Hansberry's beloved characters. Shanesia Davis anchors the production as family matriarch Lena Younger, while Brian Keys brings explosive energy to Walter Lee – though his visible tattoos create an unfortunate distraction that pulls us from the 1950s setting. Martasia Jones commands the stage as Beneatha, imbuing the aspiring doctor with a perfect blend of youthful idealism and sharp intellect. Her scenes of intellectual sparring sizzle with wit and passion, though the choice to smoke cigarettes in Mama's apartment strikes an implausible note in an otherwise masterful performance.

Kierra Bunch brings a quiet strength to Ruth Younger, crafting a deeply nuanced portrait of a woman stretched to her breaking point. Her scenes with Walter Lee pulse with complicated history – love and resentment, hope and exhaustion all tangled together. When she finally breaks down over her pregnancy, the moment is devastating in its restraint. Her joy is unbridled when she learns of the family's plan to buy a home.

Charles Andrew Gardner brings the perfect presence to George Murchison, making the most of his limited stage time. His polished demeanor and cutting wit provide the perfect foil for Beneatha's revolutionary spirit, while hints of vulnerability beneath his assured exterior add welcome complexity to what could have been a one-note character.

J. Nicole Brooks steals her scene as the nosy neighbor Mrs. Johnson, delivering gossip and judgment with such gleeful spite that you can't help but love to hate her. Her brief appearance provides crucial comic relief while underlining the community's complicated relationship with social mobility.

Julian Parker's Bobo's locs hairstyle is out of place for the time. It's distracting and makes it hard to believe Walter Lee would trust him with his dream of business ownership.

While the performances ground the production in emotional truth, Randel-Bent's modernizing choices create an intriguing tension between past and present, sometimes to the detriment of Hansberry's carefully crafted world.

Raquel Adorna's costume choices prove particularly puzzling: Joseph Asagai (Eliott Johnson) appears more Wall Street than West Africa when we first meet him in his Brooks Brothers-esque suit. At the same time, Karl Lindner (Vincent Teninty) inexplicably dons plumber's attire instead of the more historically and dramatically appropriate business suit of a "welcoming committee" representative. Young Travis (Jeremias Darville) sports an out-of-place cowboy ensemble, making him seem too old for both the outfit and the role as well as being an unlikely splurge for a family counting pennies.

Willow James' sound design walks a delicate tightrope between past and present, largely succeeding until a jarringly anachronistic moment when Walter Lee and Ruth dance to Chaka Khan's "Sweet Thing" – a choice that catapults us decades ahead of the play's setting.

“A Raisin in the Sun" hits different today than it did in 1959, but its truths cut just as deep. Sure, the Younger family's dream of owning a home in a white neighborhood might look different in 2025, but their story - fighting against systemic barriers, sacrificing for family, and refusing to let hope die - that's as real now as ever. The play nails something timeless about the American Dream: how it promises everything but keeps moving the goalposts for some folks. When Mama tends to that struggling plant, she's not just growing a flower. She's showing us how Black families keep pushing forward, generation after generation, despite the odds. Whether it's redlining in the '50s or today's housing discrimination Hansberry's message rings true: dreams don't come easy, but they're worth fighting for. That's why this play still packs theaters - it's not just history, it's tomorrow's headlines.

RECOMMENDED

When: Through March 9   *Extended through March 23rd

Where: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.

Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes

Tickets: $58 - $100.00 Student, Group and military discounts available

773-753-4472

www.Courttheatre.org

The tiny Gift Theatre, occupancy 50, has bitten off a big challenge with its determination to present Hamlet. Featuring Daniel Kyri in the title role of Shakespeare’s classic, director Monty Cole has hewed to the melodious Elizabethan English of the script.

The production has contemporary touches that largely respect the genius of the playwright, while delivering a show that the author would recognize, and which conveys the crucial dramatic conflicts. And, a mark of a serious production, Cole and cast examine anew the mysteries that will ever surround the motives and actions of the characters.

In a nutshell, young prince Hamlet suspects his mother Gertrude and uncle Claudius are complicit in the recent death of his father, King Hamlet. The two have married, and for the rest of the play Hamlet works through his feelings of anger and guilt, goaded by ghostly appearances of his father. Hamlet’s girlfriend Ophelia, her brother Laertes and their dad Polonius are killed in the fallout. Likewise for Claudius and Gertrude.

Producing any play requires envisioning and mastering the drama, psyching out characters and motivation, getting the script down. With Shakespeare, you also must account for the specific challenge of a language in iambic pentameter, and at times florid or obscure.

So Shakespearean acting is its own special skill. The cast has largely nailed the motivation and inculcated it to their roles on stage, delivering moving performances with conviction. But, alas, the language suffers a few slings and arrows along the way – though there are bright spots – including a rap version of one monolog that was very successful.

From the moment she appears, silently regal, completely in touch with the Gertrude, Shanesia Davis shows how it’s done. Her every line is immediately clear, even when we are uncertain of an archaic word or phrase – we totally understand her. Davis acting background makes it clear why – she has a lot of experience with Shakespearean roles.

Daniel Kyri has captured young Hamlet, and we ride with him through his internal turmoil. But Kyri is still working through what is one of theatre’s most demanding roles. Of those seven famous Hamlet soliloquies, I felt he did best with the fifth (“Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out”) and the sixth (“Now might I do it pat now he is praying, And now I'll do it, and so he goes to heaven.”)

Netta Walker’s performance as Ophelia was balanced and well done. Martel Manning as actor Guildenstern and the very funny Grave Digger, had a magnetic presence on stage. Gregory Fenner as Laertes has all the passion and constrined fury required. Alexander Lane carries a military strength and sinister swagger in his three roles as Fortinbras, Valteman and Marcellus. 

Not everything works, though most things do. Cole, who spent a year in the development of the show, keeps the play in its historic setting, but the production is unconstrained by period dress. Several younger characters have smart phones, and somehow, these make sense. They are used as flashlights in some scenes, and Ophelia sings along with her earbuds in. Smart phones are now a normal human appendage, like eyeglasses, and are almost invisible in their roles in the show.

The set was nice – a classic paneled plaster hallway illuminated by sconces with decaying carpeting on the floor, the edges lined by weeds and smashed beer cans. William Boles did scenic design, but I do quibble with whoever made the decision to encase the stage in a box of acrylic sheets, so the actors play behind a “glass.” This muted the sound and an effort to mic the space was unsuccessful. 

Hamlet runs through July 29 at Gift Theatre.