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“What’s everyone so afraid of?”
The names are haunting. You recognize several, but you quickly realize that you should know them all. The age of each one on the list. Who they were to their brothers, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters and friends. And how they were viewed by others who knew and loved them before their lives ended in senseless moments of violence and rage.
Read More“THERE IS AN EXPLANATION FOR EVERYTHING.”
Kevin Artigue’s compelling “Sheepdog” is set mostly in a suburban home in Cleveland. It’s 2017, and the two central figures in the gritty drama—Amina (Leslie Ann Sheppard), an African-American woman, and Ryan (Drew Schad), a white man—are both patrol cops and partners for the Cleveland Division of Police. Amina narrates the story of the relationship between the two in Shattered Globe Theatre’s Chicago premiere production, which is directed by Wardell Julius Clark and opened Sunday at Theater Wit.
SUPERB ENSEMBLE, STORY DRIVE POIGNANT ‘WATSONS’
Christopher Paul Curtis’s 1995 historical novel, The Watsons Go To Birmingham – 1963, the source material for Cheryl L. West’s remarkable new play, now in a world-premiere production at Chicago Children’s Theatre, recounts the travels of the African-American Watson family on a road trip from Flint, Michigan into Birmingham at one of the turning points of the civil rights movement: the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing on September 15, 1963, which caused the senseless murder of four young girls preparing for church services, ignited national outrage and galvanized efforts to support the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Curtis’s work first came to the attention of director Wardell Julius Clark when he was a sixth grade student in Fairfield, Alabama, and it became a deeply personal story as his mother had longtime connections with the family of Denise McNair, one of the victims of the tragedy. West’s beautiful adaptation appeals to young and old with an insightful view of what happens when generational awareness intersects with childhood innocence. Clark’s carefully crafted production, infused with an evocative original score by Paris Ray Dozier, results in an atmosphere ripe for understanding and discussion about the serious emotional impact of racism on children.
The Watson family story centers on the coming-of-age experiences of young Kenny Watson (Nelson Simmons), the smart and inquisitive middle child of Mama (Sharriese Hamilton) and Daddy (Bear Bellinger) Watson. The Watsons are loving, attentive parents, but become concerned when Kenny’s rebellious older brother Byron (Stephen “Blu” Allen) skips school with his pal Buphead (Ian Paul Custer) and tries to get Kenny to cover for him. So, Daddy and Mama pack up the “Brown Bomber” with the boys and their youngest daughter, Joey (Lyric Sims), and head off for Birmingham to deliver Byron to live with his Grandma Sands (Deanna Reed-Foster).
Mama has carefully planned a three-day excursion, but Daddy decides that it will be better for everyone if they stop along the way as little as possible. This presents logistical problems, of course, and also allows for a disturbing confrontation to occur along the way. Upon arrival, Grandma Sands waits with open arms—and a dire warning that ultimately proves to be a bonding experience for the young boys and sets the stage for a series of skillfully executed moments of drama later on.
The family relationship that the two fine actors Hamilton and Bellinger create together and with their children is touching and real. As the narrative voice of the play, Simmons’s Kenny relates to every young person who struggles to cope with events as they unfold, aided by the fine work of Allen as the self-centered older brother who has his own issues. Sims is as disarmingly sweet in the role of the youngest Watson as Reed-Foster is as Grandma, with the talented Custer playing multiple roles. Scenic design by Arnel Sancianco, with lights by Jason Lynch, costumes by Izumi Inaba, sound by Kevin O’Donnell and projections by Smooch Medina evoke the open highway for the trip to Birmingham and events in the youthful experiences that Kenny tries to process and overcome.
Opening a door for discussion with children of all ages, the Watson family in West’s moving production bursts with heart and understanding–as when providing comfort to Kenny, Grandma compares the strength of family to endure hardships like the roots of trees that “no matter what’s coming at ’em, keep these trees standing strong and standing tall for years on end”—one of many valuable lessons that run deeply through this poignant work.
Casting Note: Jeremiah Ruwe (Kenny) and Jillian-Giselle (Joey) share performances for this production.
PHOTOS|Charles Osgood
CHICAGO CHILDREN’S THEATRE
Presents
THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM —1963
weekends through May 19th
The Station
100 South Racine Avenue
(872) 222-9555
WEBSITE
TICKETS
For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago
SO DELICIOUS IT WILL KILL YOU.
There is a riveting moment deep within Chuck Smith’s American Blues Theater production of the 1992 Pearl Cleage play “Flyin’ West,” now playing at Stage 773, when Fannie Dove (Sydney Charles) chides her older sister, Sophie Washington (Tiffany Oglesby) for taking matters into her own hands. As unhinged rage spews out from Oglesby, tears well up in the eyes of both women. Smith has already allowed us to see firsthand what they can only imagine, witnesses to the raw fear and inhuman reality of physical abuse. Now it is our heart pounding turn to feel the sister’s pain and anger.
It is then that Miss Leah, the extraordinary Joslyn Jones in a powerhouse performance, steps up to calmly talk the women away from their first option to protect and defend their younger sister, Minnie Dove Charles (Tiffany Renee Johnson) from her abusive wretch of a husband, Frank (Wardell Julius Clark). We already know that another option is to have the well-meaning neighbor Will Parish (Henri Watkins), who is sweet on Fannie, deliver some ‘plains justice’ to Frank. The third option, however, offered up in one of Miss Leah’s many empowering recollections of her harrowing life experience, is so delicious it will kill you.
As background to this play set in 1898, the Homestead Act of 1862 offered large tracts of land in the western frontier that provided opportunities for tens of thousands of African American men, women and children to resettle by the late 1870s and the decades that followed. While many of the first settlers were ill-prepared for their new lives, the women at the heart of Cleage’s “Flyin’ West,” each represent a unique cultural heritage. They have settled in Nicodemus, Kansas, a boom town for those African Americans who escaped the oppression of the post-Reconstruction South. The free and safe haven the women have created and relentlessly protect is being threatened by land speculators who are moving in. The most urgent concern is the safety and well-being of a family member who is the victim of domestic violence.
An unseen character is brought to life in searing detail by Miss Leah, the 70 year-old former slave, in brilliant images of sorrowful indignity and uplifting grace that, as she states, can’t be written down. Scenes of inexplicable rage and violence, however, churn this emotional drama. The suffocating Jim Crow bias that riles up in Frank’s vile attitudes are challenged by Sophie’s strength and Fannie’s resolve to stamp his kind out of their family.
Cleage has expertly embodied an unwavering strength of will in Miss Leah and Sophie, hopefulness in Fannie, and decency in Will, but Minnie’s soul-soaked anguish and survival is truly heartwrenching.
Grant Sabin’s western plains interior design is well-suited for Lily Grace Walls period-perfect costumes and the rich lighting design by Jared Goodling. American Blues Theater has produced a fine online Backstage Guide which provides resources for victims of domestic abuse, background history and information about the production development, and a feature on the cultural movement #BlackGirlMagic.
PHOTOS|Michael Brosilow
AMERICAN BLUES THEATER
Presents
FLYIN’ WEST
Written by Pearl Cleage
Directed by Chuck Smith
through November 3rd
Stage 773
1225 West Belmont
(773) 327-5252
WEBSITE
TICKETS
BACKSTAGE GUIDE
For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago