7th Stage Productions journey through The Colored Museum reaches destination

Most people are unaware that when the first African slaves arrived in America in the area now known as South Carolina in 1526, immediate disputes over power between colony founders led to a slave revolt and eventually the dissipated the colony. Subsequently, leaders of the colony were stricken with a disease and died and the slaves sought refuge within neighboring Native American tribes, which included inter-marriage.

Had attempts at slavery ended there and Africans and other immigrants been allowed to freely migrate to America, there wouldn't have been a need for African-American Dramatist George C. Wolfe to pen the ground-breaking play "The Colored Museum" some four hundred and eighty-five years later in 1985.

That wasn't the case and in 1619, slaves arrived in Jamestown, Virginia and started the genesis of the legacy of slavery in North America as we know it today.

"The Colored Museum" is Wolfe's look at that legacy, beginning with slavery and ending in 1985, post-Vietnam. In his examination of that history through the POV of eleven "exhibits", Wolfe's intention was to provide a "glimpse" on stage and spark dialogue about how Black Americans had fared mentally, socially, emotionally, and psychologically following the worst abuse heaped on a ethnic group in the history of the United States.

When the play opened off-Broadway at The Crossroads Theatre in 1986 , it met with mixed reviews from black audiences members, understandably since the work may have hit ‘too close to home' and it was experimental theater, which mainstream black audiences tend to shy away from.

Theater critics, however, applauded Wolfe's work and he was the 1986 Recipient of the Dramatists Guild Playwriting Award, an accomplishment that led to the creation of and involvement in more groundbreaking work for which he received Obie and Tony Awards, as well as distinction as one of Broadway's most respected producers and directors.

7th Stage Productions, a relatively new theater company in residence at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, is the latest African-American company to tackle Wolfe's work and in the hands of producer/director Jiles King, tackle it they do.

Despite using a stage larger than what was needed, which at times seemed to swallow the actors because of the vast open space, and technical glitches, including use of multi-media that should have been reduced for a clearer, non-distorted images to fit the actual performance area without bleed over, the theater company did an outstanding job in keeping this classic alive and well in the 21st century.

The play opens with Miss Pat, a stewardess guiding audience members on a transatlantic journey through the minds and bowels of the slave trade. Actress Ava Wilson is masterful in this role, equally comfortable connecting with the audience members in an intimate way, and then flipping the script and becoming self-deprecating. Wilson also ends the play as the character Topsy Washington and through her sassy and spot on performance, really helps to set the tone of the piece from start to finish.

When joined by cast members Sequoia Houston and Neeley Joneá, the three actors provide the most dynamic ensemble effort in "The Hairpiece" exhibit. Wilson is over-the-top in her defiant portrayal of Janine, the kinky wig with an at-ti-tude! Not to be bested, Houston turns it up as LaWanda, the processed wig as she brawls with Janine over which of them Joneá will wear when breaking up with her boyfriend.

Another vignette that worked very well was "The Photo Exhibit", featuring the handsome Eric Robinson, Jr. and Joneá as a picture perfect couple who reside on the cover of a magazine cover. It was refreshing that King chose a pretty, darker-skinned, curvaceous actress to play the female part instead of the fairer skin models that seem to be the standard of beauty in the black community, from movies down to videos, a remnant from slavery, which Wolfe was trying to address.

Standout performances belonged to Cassandra Pruitt, Eric Robinson, and Bobby Ray Cauley, making his stage debut after stints in film.

Pruitt, a professional singer, literally blows up the stage with presence in the "Cooking With Aunt Ethel" exhibit. As she stirs up her concoction of delightful ethnic goodies, Pruitt's singing reflects the raw emotions, joy, sweat, pain, and tears of a people perpetually disenfranchised. In "The Last-Momma-On-The-Couch Play", Pruitt takes the Lady in Plaid role, which could be portrayed ineffectively in the wrong hands, and breathes magic into the performance.

Likewise, in "Permutations", Pruitt's range as an actress beyond her definitive singing abilities is clearly evident as she manages the mental terrain of a young pregnant girl co-existing in a world she has created versus the reality of her situation with genuine emotion and appropriate experimental touches. It was riveting to watch.

Robinson really proves his acting chops outside of his pin-up portrayal as Man in "The Photo Session" and turns in a superb comedic performances as "Momma" in The Last Couch Play. Any other director would have been tempted to fill the role with a heavy-set black actress but Robinson is male, tall and lanky, which helped to create the presence of the matriarch as ‘larger than life'. Diving into the role with the fervor of a preacher, Robinson wasn't scared to use his entire body including that ever tapping right foot to dramatize his position, which created robust laughter for the entire scene.

In LaLa's opening, Robinson doesn't have a single line as boyfriend Flo-Rence, but manages to steal the scene from Jonea' with his wheelchair-bound antics.

Perhaps the most realized performances belongs to Cauley. His ability to play two characters that are polar opposites is what separates good actors from excellent actors, of which he is the latter.

As Junie Robinson, the ghost in "Soldier With A Secret" representing the legion of black soldiers who had to contend with protecting a country that didn't protect them, as well as deal with personal issues that arose due to persistent racism, Cauley takes your breath away as he navigates the stage with the grace and presence of a seasoned Broadway actor and draws you into his mission.

In yet another great casting move, Cauley also portrays "Miss ROJ" in the exhibit of the same name. Decked out in a white frilly loose top, white cargo shorts, and white knee high stiletto boots, Cauley commands the stage with legitimate authenticity and fierceness as an ostracized black gay man.

Worth noting, Cauley didn't rely on the usual stereotypical, offensive gestures that are widely accepted by black theater audiences to dramatize his character's plight. He simply showed the dichotomy that impacts this population of black gay and SGL men and he did so with an equally defiant yet vulnerable presence that had me laughing and nearly in tears at the same time.

 

The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, Dallas Convention Center Theater Complex, Room T-314 (Corner of Canton and Akard Streets), Dallas, TX.

For ticket information for tonight's final performance, call the TBAAL Box Office at 214-743-2400 or Ticketmaster at 866-448-7849.

For more information about upcoming 7^th Stage Productions events, call 214-417-6095 or visit: www.7thstageproductions.org.

 

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