Displaying items by tag: Jazzma Pryor

As the audience takes its seats we are greeted by an atmosphere of foreboding, a trestle bridge girder to the left, and in the evening air, foggy wisps drift about the stage. Already something is up, but we don’t know what. Just something in Charly Evon Simpson’s captivating and mysterious “Jump.”

Soon enough Fay (Jazzma Pryor is dazzling) takes to the bridge and vapes, her smoke blending into the foggy night. Her vaping becomes ritualistic. Squat, in a high tops and jeans jacket, her braided rows tipped in blonde, Fay takes a drag, then tosses her vape into the gorge like a discarded cigarette butt, then reaches skyward and another vape appears, and she repeats this sleight of hand multiple times. Periodically lights flicker, then the stage goes dark.

Running 90 minutes with no intermission, “Jump” relies on a slow (perhaps too slow) and steady build to a climactic reveal for its forward momentum. And in the next scene, action begins. The porch of a white clapboard house is now the focus. This is Fay’s childhood home, and we learn that her mother passed away some weeks ago. She is to meet her family here to dispose of the household possessions, Dad (Alfred Wilson) is due to arrive soon, but is reliably late.

Then Fay’s older sister Judy (Jennifer Glasse) appears. The two check-in with each other, in a verbal joust that suggests years of tension and a different outlook on life. Judy is polished and well groomed. But they are here for the same purpose, wondering aloud what surprising news Dad will have for them when he arrives.

Oddly, the lights flicker now and then. Fay remarks on it but Judy, oddly, doesn’t register the phenomenon or even respond to Fay’s question about it. Judy disappears into the house, and Fay awaits the arrival of her father, alone.

In later scenes, Judy and Fay explore their shared bedroom from girlhood—Fay is more wistful, Judy less engaged in looking back at their time together, and the loss of their mother and home. When Dad does arrive, he lays out the news alone to Fay on the porch: he is planning on selling the house.

Later, Fay is back on the bridge, alone, vaping again and perhaps meditating on these moments of loss, when we meet the most significant character, the long-haired slacker Hopkins (Jeff Kurysz). A cigarette smoker, Hopkins and Fay find a chemistry in smoking and feeling blue on the bridge. We learn that Hopkins was contemplating a jump from the bridge but Fay’s presence thwarted his plan.

Scenes of these two on the bridge are the best part of the play: a natural engagement of two people, each in their own grief, and the mutual support they glean from knowing at least we are not alone. Kurysz is quite perfect, and Pryor’s performance is exceptional.

The sets by Regina Garcia and Lindsay Mummert are beautifully done, and the lighting by Levi Wilkins and sound by Christopher Kriz are perfectly synched: the flickering lights and crackle of electrical shorts are almost another character in this play.

The acting and sets are really good, the climax gives a surprising and satisfying resolution. But with so little real action, the pace given “Jump” by director AmBer Montgomery leads up to the resolve much too slow. And while “Jump” is about grief, the playwright doesn't register the internal emotional suffering of these grieving individuals. We’re only given the outward effects.

Still, “Jump” is a good theater experience. “Jump” runs through June 1, 2024 at Theater Wit in Chicago.

THE LIGHT has a cast of two, placing enormous demands on both actors, but Jazzma Pryor as Genesis and Rich Oliver as her partner Rashad rose to the challenge splendidly. Under the direction of Tim Rhoze, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre’s Artistic Director, THE LIGHT is an in-depth examination of heterosexual relationships, particularly those between Black women and men.

THE LIGHT begins on a high and happy note: Rashad has bought an engagement ring to celebrate his and Genesis’ two-year anniversary. The felicitous evening hits a snag, however, when Genesis objects to an event Rashad has arranged for them. In trying to understand Genesis’ demurral, a dark incident from the past is exposed; its toxic influence escalates as details grudgingly emerge. The script is tight and compact, without superfluous elements – unusual for a play that is focused on emotions rather than actions.

Loy Webb’s brilliant script depicts a relationship crumbling before our eyes – and theirs! It’s written from a woman’s point of view, displaying the male animal’s archetypal bewilderment regarding issues of emotion. Women are from Venus, men are from Mars. Everybody knows that.

But THE LIGHT goes far deeper. Webb uses Genesis and Rashad to examine a wide host of emotions: how they arise, how they are perceived, how they are countered – and particularly how they diverge, even contradict, between female and male. Yet despite its gynocentric bias THE LIGHT manages not to browbeat or bully the other half of the species. Men in the audience – the ones I spoke with, any road – did not feel threatened, but acknowledged that Webb’s depiction was authentic and perceptive. Other men may have gone home to stick pins into pictures of their moms. One never knows …

THE LIGHT is also focused particularly on Black couples, emphasizing those flavors of misogyny peculiar to Black men, and the stereotypical images of both women and men in Black culture. Still, I found Webb’s insights to be more broadly applicable – tough to do, but Loy Webb manages in THE LIGHT.

A two-person cast has special challenges for the director as well as the actors, and Tim Rhoze did an exceptional job. THE LIGHT was more than simply a beautiful play; it was contemplative and thought-provoking; even disturbing. It illuminated aspects of my own life and relationships, including some I would rather have left in shadow. This sort of reluctant introspection requires an exceptional script, brilliant actors to bring the words to life, and shrewdly mindful direction to interpret and guide the whole.

The set is, of course, the first thing one notices upon entering the theatre, and I was instantly riveted. Co-Set Designers Tim Rhoze and Shane Rogers used minimal furniture and Costumer Lynn Baber followed his lead with simple clothing. Both measures helped prevent distraction from the stunning background painted by muralist Jess Patterson. Half a dozen abstract women’s faces in shades of blue and crimson set the atmosphere and provided the backdrop for Lighting Designer Hannah Wein to use the lights as almost a third character, particularly during the final moments of the show. Kara Roseborough was Sound Designer, as well as (with Assistant Alexis Harris-Dyer) maintaining global oversight as Stage Manager.

I’ve been consistently impressed by the performances at Fleetwood-Jourdain Theater. FJT has remained committed to its mission: to celebrate Black and African-American experiences through diversity and creative excellence. “Umoja! …. Working Together in Unity” is the foundation upon which FJT has built this exceptional venue. I saw AMERICAN SON in November 2022; my review begins: “You know that breathless moment of silence after the curtain falls and before the applause begins? That moment doesn’t happen often, and it always indicates a truly extraordinary performance.” This magic moment, this ultimate accolade happened again last Sunday at the close of THE LIGHT. Need I say more? HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

THE LIGHT will play at Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre through August 20.