Displaying items by tag: Pearl Cleage

GRACE -- “Let me try to explain something to you. The Nacirema Society is not a social service group nor a political organization. Our challenge and our joy is to celebrate the best of us, not by giving scholarships and financial assistance, but by recognizing the fact that there are some of us who don’t need it [a beat}. Who has never needed it." - From the script, "The Nacerima Society..."

Commissioned by The Alabama Shakespeare Festival in 2009, “The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of their First One Hundred Years” comes to The Goodman Theatre thanks to the association its Artistic Director, Susan V. Booth, has with playwright Pearl Cleage. Chicago theatergoers cannot be happier. “The Nacirema Society Requests….” is a laugh out loud spectacle.

As some may have noticed “Nacirema” is simply “American” spelled backwards. Cleage borrowed the term from a satirical essay by Horace Miner, an anthropologist. Miner believes what one culture does and believes to be normal, others may see as unusual. Cleage feels African Americans have been forced to adopt values and norms of white society to survive and this process of assimilation has come at a cost.

Montgomery, Alabama, 1964 conjures up feelings of dread for African Americans. The play is set 10 years after the Montgomery bus boycott, and there are freedom rides into the deep South, challenging segregation. African Americans, under the tutelage of Dr. M.L. King Jr., are gearing up for a march from Selma to Montgomery to demand voting rights. But to Grace Dunbar, doyenne of the exclusive Nacirema Society, nothing is more important than its upcoming 100-year celebration ball. That set-up, in and of itself, begs one to laugh.

From the moment we meet Grace Dubose Dunbar, portrayed brilliantly by the exceptional E. Faye Butler, we know we must mind our manners. She is a high strung, outspoken, aristocrat. For a glimpse into her personality, one need only to remember Dunbar rhymes with bourgeois. She’s in the midst of preparing her granddaughter, Gracie, brought to life wonderfully by Demetra Dee, for the debutante ball organized by the Nacirema Society.

Assisting Grace is her dearest friend and fellow society member, Catherine Adams Green, played with an air of affluence by the talented Ora Jones. Catherine, being sure her grandson, the dashing Eric Gerard as Bobby Green, will propose to Gracie, has planted a story of their engagement to the local society papers. Gracie and Bobby have absolutely no intention of marrying, but out of respect for their grandmothers, they play along with the charade, at least until after the ball. Marie Dunbar, Grace’s Daughter-in-law and Gracie’s mother is aware of Gracie’s intentions and fully supports her. She is played by Sharriese Hamilton with strength and honesty.

Janet Logan, a reporter, played with steely resolve by Jaye Ladymore, will be covering the Debutante Ball for the New York Times. She will be the houseguest of Grace Dunbar, creating an extra layer of anxiety for Madame Grace to get everything just right. As if having a reporter from a major newspaper breathing down her neck weren’t enough, the daughter of the Dunbar’s late former maid, Alpha Campbell Jackson, a devious portrayal by Tyla Abercrumbie, is in town with her daughter Lillie Campbell Jackson, a lovely turn by Felicia Oduh to settle a family affair. Everyone gets more than they bargained for.

In a non-verbal role Shariba W. Rivers nearly steals the show as Jessie Roberts, the maid of Grace Dunbar, proving once again, there are no small roles.

The dual set for this production can only be described as a conspicuous display wealth. Arnel Sancianco, set designer, did a visually amazing job of creating a 1960’s upper middle-class home. There is a great room with a crystal chandelier hanging in the center. The furnishings are noticeably french, with several seating areas. There is a set of stairs leading to a library that is just as opulent as the rest of the home. The home of the late Lillie Campbell is just as impressive in its scope, a 1960’s working class kitchen with colored refrigerator and matching cabinets. Costume design by Samantha Jones was gorgeous. I can tell she likes working in this era. The jewel toned dresses were fabulous.

Cleage's is work is known for its sharp wit, and insightful commentary. “The Nacirema Society” shows her ability to combine humor with social critique. It is a thought-provoking look at the dynamics of a specific segment of African American society all wrapped up in a romantic comedy. Lili-Anne Brown did a fantastic job directing this situational comedy, she keeps the ball and the tension in the air, and despite the running time, makes us forget about the worries in the world, exactly what a comedy should do.

“The Nacirema Society” runs through October 15 at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.

There is a Pearl Cleage festival in Chicago. Most of the events are free. You can get details at https://www.goodmantheatre.org/event/pearl-cleage-fest/

Trying to explain what Black Harlem's Renaissance was like is hard. The period was so rich in creative verve, you really have to show it while you tell it. It took me awhile to grasp what playwright Pearl Cleage has achieved - and director Ron OJ Parson has brought carefully to life -  in Court Theatre's Blues for an Alabama Sky.

In this beautifully polished production, we become familiar with the lives and aspirations of five denizens of the abundant cultural life enveloping New York's burgeoning black district in the 1920s and 1930s, driven by waves of aspiring new arrivals during the Great Migration from the South to the North. The period gives rise to the first jazz concert, to international musical superstars like Josephine Baker, Paul Robeson, Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller; to writers and thinkers like Marcus Garvey, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude McKay, who wrote the first bestseller by a black author. 

Cleage has fleshed out each of her characters - a doctor, a singer, a fashion designer, a social worker, and a carpenter - who are much more than archetypes. These are real people, each contributing a seminal thread to this tale. She has also set the timeline toward the end of that golden era, in 1930 after the market crash, as the Great Depression rolled in. 

The storyline seems surprisingly fresh, but it is true to its time: the protagonists here seem a mismatched couple - a flamboyant gay fashion designer Guy (Sean Parris), and his platonic love, Angel (Toya Turner), a gangsters' moll who tries but fails to make a living as a night club singer.  

Abandonedly outré, Guy has worked his way up from stitching gowns for cross dressers, to designing clothes on spec for Josephine Baker. The pair love and support each other as they pursue their dreams, but have no future as a couple; Angel is set on finding herself a big strong man who will take care of her, and pay the rent. Guy wants to make it in Paris.

Across the hall dwells the scholarly Delia (Celeste Cooper), who is launching the first family planning clinic in Harlem. A history lesson makes its way into the plot as the clinic is burned down. Some in the black community suspected efforts at setting up such clinics - led by Margaret Sanger - were really just part of a plot to reduce the black population. Carrying the torch for Delia is Sam, a medical doctor. James Vincent Meredith's performance gives Sam a steady, even temperament - abiding patience, and someone who is tolerant and nurturant. 

Conflict arises as Leland (Geno Walker) a widowed carpenter recently arrived from Alabama, falls for Angel. His ardor cools as he discovers he is not in Alabama anymore. In this Black Harlem, homosexuals are accepted; family planning is a matter of choice.

Each of these characters engenders our sympathy. And in the course of the action they live, die, move on - or remain stuck in place. Though Cleage wrote this work in 1995, it is completely fresh. And it has been given its due in Parson's production. Costumes and set are beautifully period, and lighting brings added dimensions to the staging. Blues for an Alabama Sky now extended through February 19th at Court Theatre.