Displaying items by tag: Adhana Reid

Why do we learn about history?

This question has been asked for ages and is often met with the response: So that history does not repeat itself. When it comes to plays about history, that question is often met with some version of the same answer. We witness historical events in a live, theatrical setting so that among other things, we can learn to do better.

Playwright Anna Deavere Smith invites us to consider that question, but adds another layer: How are we meant to learn about our mistakes in history if we do not first get to know the people involved? As with many of her other plays, Notes from the Field is documentary theatre, and comprised of verbatim dialogue pulled from more than 250 accounts from students, faculty, prisoners, activists, politicians, and victims’ families. Smith conducted these interviews during President Barack Obama’s term, and while this may not quite be present day, the subject matter is certainly contemporary. Over the course of the play, we meet 19 individuals – all fighting to overcome and change America’s educational and criminal justice systems – especially with the tendency to focus on incarceration.

The catch? This play does not feature 19 actors, but rather three women – Mildred Marie Langford, Shariba Rivers, and Adhana Reid. Skillfully directed by Mikael Burke, the transitions between characters feel seamless, and every individual whom one of these actors embodies feels distinct and specific. While Smith brings humor into the script, many of the stories reveal heartbreaking memories, and the three actors fill each of these moments with an authentic balance of compassion and anger.

And so, we return to this question: How are we meant to learn about our mistakes in history if we do not first get to know the people involved?

One of the many individuals whom Langford embodied in this performance was Denise Dodson, an inmate who detailed what she learned from prison. Scenic Designer Eleanor Kahn has left the space fairly minimal – allowing the text to do its work as we hear each individual’s story. Langford is alone on a chair, and Lighting Designer Eric Watkins fills the space with just enough light to cast a large shadow behind her. Nothing is hidden as Dodson reflects with the audience on how education could have given her (and many young people like her) a different path. She explains:

“They have to see’em as people. They have to see them as the future. They have to see them as people who are gonna go out and be their next-door neighbors… ‘Cause they’re… at that stage where they absorb everything. And if they not absorbing all the right things, then… yeah. That’s… barbaric.”

Smith creates an opportunity for us as an audience to learn from a first-hand account how this country’s system has failed so many young people. We have created a system that forces them to so many to see themselves in a specific way. Langford’s matter-of-fact approach to the material is at times hard to hear. However, based on the silence surrounding me at this performance, it’s clear that I was not the only one hooked on every word, listening to this personal story unfold.

Dodson shares a warning. A desire for us as a country to offer stronger support for young people so we can change this school-to-prison pipeline. In the process, you may also notice that Smith is succeeding at something else. It’s one thing to write a story about incarceration and the failings of the education system. It’s another to look a human in the eye and hear their story – their personal account of how their life could have been different, a plea that we listen. Smith’s approach brings light to 19 of these accounts that may never have been heard otherwise – of “broken people’ as she puts it in her play. You may just find that this hits a little different. That Smith invites empathy in a different way. Maybe this approach can lead to the change that we as a country so desperately need.

Powerful performances and a hard-hitting script make this play an experience to remember. To put it simply, Notes from the Field is a must-see.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Running through March 24, 2024 at Timeline Theatre – 615 W. Wellington Avenue.

Drury Lane brings Alice Walker’ 1982 novel ‘The Color Purple’, which found major success as a film in 1985, to the stage in what is sure to be a memorable experience for theatre goers. After its opening night performance, many who had seen either the Broadway run or national touring version of the classic story, emphatically stated that Drury Lane’s production is the best they have ever seen. That’s saying something.

 
The story takes place in the early 1900’s and continues through about halfway through the century. Following the journey of Celie, an African American woman in the American South, we get a story of heartbreak, unspeakable atrocities and more importantly that of hope and perseverance. Still a child, Celie has two children by the age of fourteen – both by her father, Alphonso. Not long after her second child is born; her father tells Celie he is going to get rid of the child just like he did with the first. Celie’s only comfort is in spending time with her slightly older sister Nettie and the two vow to never leave each other’s side. 

But four years later, a local farmer, Albert “Mister” Johnson asks Alphonso to have Nettie’s hand in marriage. Alphonso refuses, but offers up Celie instead, who is constantly referred to as “ugly”. Mister doesn’t bite but finally accepts when Alphonso throws in a cow. Mister, who had helped Nettie pursue her dream of becoming a teacher, also takes Nettie in shortly after she pleaded to stay with him and her sister alleging Alphonso is mistreating her. Mister accommodates Nettie, but always having eyes for her, attacks her one day and when she fights back is sent away along with the promise the two sisters will never see each other again. Once again, Celie finds herself in what turns out to be abusive relationship with a much older man.

It seems hopeless for Celie until a racy lounge singer comes into their lives – Shug Avery.

From there the story takes on many directions and we wonder if Celie will ever see her sister again or be released from the clutches of Mister.

 
With an already powerful book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, the direction by Lili-Anne Brown and gifted cast assembled puts this production over the top. Eben K. Logan is stupendous as Celie in every way as we are hopelessly drawn into her character one moment and marveling at her vocal ability the next. Logan is a true find and leads this amazing cast that also features Sydney Charles who brightly shines as Shug Avery, Nicole Michelle Haskins whose moving portrayal of Sofia truly resonates and Melvin Abston who is nothing short of commanding as Mister. The cast rounds out with an incredibly skilled ensemble that features Drury veterans Adhana Reid and Lorenzo Rush Jr. along with Camille Robinson, Jos N. Banks and a host of other talents. Kyrie Courter is just wonderful as Nettie while Gilbert Domally’s Harpo couldn’t be better. 

Besides a powerful story that is sure to move its audience members, it contains one enjoyable musical number after another from its title song “The Color Purple” to touching numbers like “What About Love” and “Somebody Gonna Love you”.
Drury Lane’s ‘The Color Purple’ is engaging from beginning to end as it retells a classic story of strong will and courage.

Highly recommended.

‘The Color Purple’ is being performed at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook through November 3rd. For tickets and/or more information, visit www.drurylanetheatre.com.  
 

There has never been a better Broadway marriage of story and storyteller – until Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, three decades later, anyway – than Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and songsmith Roger Miller. Floating between aching country ballads, soulful slave spirituals, and the side-splitting novelty tunes that made Miller famous, Big River brought an American classic about century-old America into the 20th century, earning seven Tony Awards in the process. And now through October 15, Theatre at the Center in Munster, Indiana, ferries Huck, Jim, and their story of friendship and freedom to today’s audiences, showing that the stories and the struggles of America haven’t changed all that much.

While Twain’s tale is titled for its teller – the author’s most famous creation – Huck Finn was the original Nick Carraway, in that he is best when playing narrator for the other characters and their quandaries. And in TATC’s production of Big River, James Romney’s Huck is just such a narrator. Romney’s work is fine – his voice is strong, his acting is as well, and he’s got boyish charm galore – but it’s when he allows the rest of the cast to shine that he’s at his best, supporting each of the people we meet along the Mississippi as they spin their yarns, share their pain, and make us chuckle.

The first people we meet are the orchestra, led by pianist and musical director, Bill Underwood. Part of the simple but gorgeous set, the group fits right into the rural riverside, playing guitars, mandolins, accordion, harmonica, and even the jaw harp. Their accompaniment throughout is just the right balance of polished and down home; they’re part of the set and part of the spectacle, bringing the surroundings to life without stealing the show.

Huck’s fellow townsfolk enter as the opening overture plays, each dancing and playing percussion – washboard, shakers, the tambourine. Liz Chidester’s stern Miss Watson is a favorite, a spinsterly hoot. And Kyle Quinlivan’s Tom Sawyer, who will reappear throughout, starts us off expecting a comical adventure, more puckish even than Huck as he leads the local lads in the energetic “We Are the Boys.”

Another member of Huck’s St. Petersburg is town drunkard and the boy’s old man, Pap Finn, played by Bret Tuomi. His swaggering, staggering rendition of the bluesy “Guv’ment” is the first real showstopper. Tuomi later retakes the stage as the King, a conman whose partner in crime, the Duke played by Jason Richards, struts and preens and malaprops his way into the townspeople’s pockets and the audience’s hearts, a highlight being a ludicrous Shakespearean soliloquy. Seeing grifters hoodwink the general populace for their own gain has never been so much fun – or, sadly, so timely.

But even as the cast entertains, the darkest side of humanity is always present. The ensemble cast playing slaves – slaves in Huck’s hometown, and those enslaved on down the river – give the show gravitas not just with their singing, but by their mere presence. Adhana Reid delivers a lovely hymn, “How Blest We Are,” while Camille Robinson provides a highlight in the reprise of “Waitin’ for the Light to Shine.” But early on, as Jim and Huck hear voices from the other bank sing the lament, “The Crossing,” Jim knows these are escaped slaves who’ve been recaptured simply from the sound of their voices. And because Jim tells us, we know this, too. And we hurt right along with him.

Blessed with a big, beautiful voice, and an even bigger and more beautiful presence, Jonathan Butler-Duplessis, as Jim, is the heart of this production, just as Jim is the heart of the book and the musical. Whether cleaning a catfish or chained to a cabin, whether telling of his daughter’s scarlet fever or telling tall tales to Huck aboard their raft, we feel for and with and through Butler-Duplessis’ Jim. This culminates in his rendition of Roger Miller’s finest gospel tune – and perhaps the finest tune Miller ever wrote – “Free at Last.” Shackled there on center stage, Butler-Duplessis shows us the sorrow this man has seen and hints at the hope that freedom may bring.

But perhaps for this writer, the most powerful moment comes at the end of the first act. As Huck joins the shysters in plotting their latest scheme in “When the Sun Goes Down in the South,” Jim returns to the show’s main theme, the yearning, churning “Muddy Water.” Jonathan Butler-Deplessis’ solo soars over his raftmates’ shenanigans, in a plea for freedom, for justice, for life. In 1800's Missouri or in modern times, there is injustice and there are those who stand against it. Yesterday and today, there is good and there is evil. And in that moment, I sure got the shivers as TATC’s Big River allows the good to rise above.

Big River is being performed at Theatre at the Center in Munster, IN through October 15th. For more show information visit www.theatreatthecenter.com. A Wonderful Life: The Musical begins November 16th.