{"id":614,"date":"2019-12-09T09:26:27","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T09:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/?p=614"},"modified":"2022-02-05T13:32:37","modified_gmt":"2022-02-05T13:32:37","slug":"cotillion-of-loss-summoning-august-wilsons-african-american-century1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/cotillion-of-loss-summoning-august-wilsons-african-american-century1\/","title":{"rendered":"Cotillion of Loss: Summoning August Wilson’s African American Century"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lissa Tyler Renaud<\/strong>*<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gem of the Ocean<\/span>, by August Wilson. Company: The Lower Bottom Playaz. Venue: Flight Deck, Oakland, California. Premiere: February 1, 2019. Directed by Ayodele Nzinga and Cat Brooks. Set design: Aaron Swar. Costumes and props: Regina Evans. Lighting: Stephanie Anne Johnson. Support: California Arts Council, Oakland Cultural Funding, East Bay Community Foundation, and Alameda County Arts Council.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Reginald Wilkins (Solly), Cat Brooks (Aunt Ester Tyler). Photo: Lower Bottom Playaz<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A gift to the Bay Area\u2019s theatre landscape, the Lower Bottom Playaz didn\u2019t so much perform Gem of the Ocean<\/em> as collectively channel it. With experience producing Shakespeare, this company has found a niche no other can fill in quite the same way with the plays of August Wilson, often called the American Shakespeare. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wilson (1945\u20132005) won his first Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award in 1987, and another Pulitzer Prize in 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson\u2019s\nfamous Century Cycle, also called the Pittsburgh Cycle, tells the story of 100\nyears of African American life, one play for each decade of the twentieth century.\nAlthough Wilson wrote Gem<\/em> ninth\n(premiere, 2003), it is chronologically the first in the cycle, set in 1904. Only\na matter of decades had passed since the American Civil War (1861\u201365); no character\nin the play escapes living in the palpable, terrible shadow of slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Reginald Wilkins, Evander Johnson, Venus Morris. Black Mary reads Solly and their friend Eli a distressing letter from Solly\u2019s sister. Photo: Lower Bottom Playaz<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The play unfolds largely around the kitchen table of a sanctuary house in Pittsburgh\u2019s Hill District, an area created by insidious policies that corralled African American citizens into segregated neighborhoods. The ingenious single set and evocative costumes were pitch perfect, quietly suggesting good taste hampered by poverty and creating a believable visual world for what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmagnetic field that holds together the sanctuary household is Aunt Ester Tyler.\nYouthful crone, white witch, Black shaman, magicker, Ester is said to be 285\nyears old, with a gift for washing souls and guiding them to the floor of the\nAtlantic, where the Gem of the Ocean slave ship lies, in a city made of the\nbones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young\nCitizen Barlow, come north from Alabama, seeks soul-cleansing help from Ester\nTyler. Ester was played by Cat Brooks, much loved as a longtime actress of\nstage and screen, and a well-known political activist; Citizen Barlow was the\nintense, lyrical Stanley Hunt (Best Actor Award, NY film festival, 2013):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video 1<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
Stanley Hunt, Cat Brooks. Photo: Lower Bottom Playaz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Accepted into Ester\u2019s home, Citizen Barlow joins the close circle around her: Solly Two Kings, born into slavery, now selling dog excrement to survive (the impressive, tender Reginald Wilkins); Eli, Solly\u2019s former Underground Railroad cohort, now Ester\u2019s protector (the quietly elegant Evander Johnson); Black Mary Wilks, housekeeper and Ester\u2019s prot\u00e9g\u00e9e (the sweet, feisty Venus Morris); Black Mary\u2019s brother, Caesar Wilks, a baker turned ruthless constable (the irresistible Pierre Scott, here the villain, elsewhere the savior); Rutherford Selig, peddler and loyal friend of the household (the endearing Christopher Weddle). These actors give the impression of being in a symbiotic relationship with their characters, and as a troupe, they are the embodiment of an \u201cacting ensemble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even\nin group and two-person scenes, the playwright gives each character a long\nmonologue that could easily get the better of an actor. All terrific; here\u2019s\njust one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video 2<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
Stanley Hunt, Reginald Wilkins, Evander Johnson. Photo: Lower Bottom Playaz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Oakland is a city, and also an identity. This intrepid theatre group is grounded in the experience of West Oakland. In its heyday, the 1940s\u201360s, West Oakland\u2019s Lower Bottoms district was \u201cThe Harlem of the West,\u201d a cultural center for African Americans, its venues attracting the best jazz and blues musicians nationally. The story of the area\u2019s demise is full of greed and bigotry, and later, the suspicious introduction of drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty\nyears ago, the Lower Bottom Playaz started playing in parking lots and homeless\nshelters: Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin; Romeo and Juliet<\/em>, Macbeth<\/em>.\nLosing their more recent West Oakland performance spaces to gentrification,\nthey have landed downtown at the Flight Deck\u2019s 99-seat black box theatre. Having\ndone the Century Cycle once before, this production marks their commitment to\ndoing it all over again, with moxie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January of 2016, Ayodele Nzinga\nbecame the only director, the only producer, her Lower Bottom Playaz, the only\ntheatrical entity of any size anywhere in the known world to fully stage the\ncomplete works of August Wilson’s American Century Cycle in chronological order\n. . . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Stanley Hunt, Evander Johnson (masked). Citizen Barlow in the City of Bones. Photo: Lower Bottom Playaz<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, in the eye of this storm of talent is Ayodele Nzinga, a force of nature in her own right, conjuring the impossible: spaces, community, funding, spaces, players and advocates. An accomplished actress and playwright, a fantastic published poet, holder of M.A., M.F.A. and Ph.D. degrees and multiple awards, Nzinga has been rustling up the arts in Oakland\/Bay Area circles for over forty years, wielding her trademark combination of outrage, charm, fervor, dignity, humor and profuse love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat\nBrooks, this production\u2019s co-director, told the audience in after-show remarks:\n\u201cAyo[dele] picks people off the street and gives them the gift of theatre.\u201d Nzinga added,\nreferring to August Wilson, \u201cJust\nbecause our affair didn\u2019t start until he was dead doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s not real.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Stanley Hunt, Cat Brooks. Aunt Ester welcomes Citizen Barlow after he has broken into her home to steal some food. Photo: Lower Bottom Playaz<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At its heart, this production of the play was about storytelling. Again and again, the characters paired up\u2014one telling, one listening, then perhaps switching; one remembering, the other witnessing, before changing partners. After a while, this combining and re-combining took on a rhythm, becoming a kind of quadrille of memory; a cotillion of trauma, loss, history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson\u2019s\ngorgeous flights of language can turn complicated: Are freed slaves free? In\nthe countless clips of scenes I have seen from other productions, none of the\nactors have had the raw directness, the scrappy, hungering grace that the Lower\nBottom Playaz actors had, never striking an inauthentic note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Venus Morris, Christopher Weddle, Cat Brooks, Evander Johnson, Pierre Scott, Reginald Wilkins (on table). Members and friend of the sanctuary household confront the Constable, who has killed Solly. Photo: Lower Bottom Playaz<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This production brought to the fore the text\u2019s element of theatricality\u2014its play-within-a-play-ness. At key moments, the characters \u201cstaged\u201d an event. When they knew the law-and-order Constable was coming, they \u201cstaged\u201d a tableau of nonchalance. When the Constable shot and killed Solly, the others spontaneously staged a ceremony for Solly\u2019s body lying on the kitchen table, circling him, each one stopping to say goodbye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Central\nto Citizen Barlow\u2019s journey to spiritual selfhood is the \u201cstaging\u201d of his trip to\nthe City of Bones at the center of the world. With Aunt Ester at the figurative\nhelm, and a little paper boat as a talisman to carry Citizen to another level\nof consciousness, Citizen\u2019s companions create for him a trance experience summoned\nthrough chanting, calling, singing, rhythm-making and the hypnotic suggestion\nthat he has arrived where he can be cleansed from the inside. That is, they\nshow Citizen how to travel with his mind. They give the gift of theatre of the\nmind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Reginald Wilkins (masked), Venus Morris (at back), Cat Brooks (in red), Evander Johnson (masked), Stanley Hunt (on floor). Aunt Ester and members of her household take Citizen on a cleansing journey to the City of Bones. Photo: Lower Bottom Playaz<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Directorially, the build reached by these methods were all the more stunning for not having any \u201ctech\u201d component at all: no supplemental background music, imposed video or CGI, computerized lighting effects. The pacing was so expert that the stillnesses were earned, the silences full of thinking and feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Occasionally,\nthe dialects were dense enough that I missed things. But I was carried over sticky\npatches by the compelling cadences, the clarity of the situations, by the unaffected\nrecitations of poetry, the singing and by the moral authority of all the\nperformances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lower Bottom Playaz\u2019\n2019 Gem of the Ocean<\/em> was a gem of\nthe theatre season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Front: Director-Producer Ayodele Nzinga talks to the audience before her helper passes the hat. Back: Christopher Weddle, Venus Morris, Evander Johnson, Cat Brooks, Reginald Wilkins, Stanley Hunt, Pierre Scott. The cast gathers behind Nzinga before coming forward to chat and offer hugs as the audience exits. Photo: Lower Bottom Playaz<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

NOTE: <\/strong>An earlier version of this review is at www.scene4.com<\/a>. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n\"\"
 \n\n\n\n

*<\/a>Lissa Tyler Renaud\u00a0<\/strong>(MA Directing; PhD Theatre History\/Criticism). Founder-Director, InterArts Training, based in Oakland. Has taught, lectured and published widely on acting, directing, voice, body alignment, dramatic theory and the early European avant-garde, around the U.S.; at major theatre institutions of Asia; in England, Mexico, Russia and Sweden. English-language founding editor, English-French\u00a0Critical Stages\u00a0<\/em>(2008\u201314); its Language Editor, English (2014\u201318); currently, contributor and board member. English-language Editor, Wuzhen Theatre Festival, China; senior writer, Scene4<\/em>; Editor, “Kandinsky Anew” series: Kandinsky’s theatre life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a9<\/strong> 2019 Lissa Tyler Renaud
Critical Stages\/Sc\u00e8nes critiques<\/em> e-ISSN: 2409-7411<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Creative<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution International License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":620,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performance-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/photo-5.-SollyTable2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":728,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/theatre-in-malta-amateur-practice-and-professional-aspirations\/","url_meta":{"origin":614,"position":0},"title":"Theatre in Malta: Amateur Practice and Professional Aspirations","author":"Lissa Tyler Renaud","date":"December 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Vicki Ann Cremona* Abstract This article provides a general outline of theatre in Malta where the small size of the archipelago (316m2) makes it difficult to develop professional theatre. It evaluates the issues theatre faces when confronted by political constraints that affect cultural policies and outlooks. It looks at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National Reports"","block_context":{"text":"National Reports","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/national-reports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image7-3.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image7-3.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image7-3.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image7-3.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":499,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/criticism-on-the-critical-list-just-a-canadian-issue\/","url_meta":{"origin":614,"position":1},"title":"Criticism on the Critical List: Just a Canadian Issue?","author":"Lissa Tyler Renaud","date":"December 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Robin Breon* and Don Rubin** The face of arts journalism is changing again\u2015and not for the better \u2015at least in Canada. Is it changing in other countries as well? In the last two to three years, major theatres and major festivals across the country have begun to cut back on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Critics on Criticism"","block_context":{"text":"Critics on Criticism","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/critics-on-criticism\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image12-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image12-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image12-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/12\/image12-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":362,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/introductory-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":614,"position":2},"title":"Introductory Words","author":"Lissa Tyler Renaud","date":"November 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Yana Meerzon* Dear reader, I am happy to present the December 2019 \u201cESSAY SECTION\u201d (# 20) of the journal Critical Stages\/Sc\u00e8nes critiques. This section is dedicated to urgent issues related to theater and performance making, ways of thinking and writing about theatre and performing arts, ways of viewing and reflecting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Essays"","block_context":{"text":"Essays","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/essays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/Meerzon.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":221,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/dance-and-age\/","url_meta":{"origin":614,"position":3},"title":"Dance and Age","author":"Lissa Tyler Renaud","date":"October 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Margareta S\u00f6renson* Abstract Dancers \u201cdie\u201d young. This is what most people think, and if the reference is classical ballet, it might be the case. Yet, the examples of Ohno, Manning, Ek, Fonteyn, Bausch show quite the opposite:\u00a0that there is still life for a dancer who is no longer young. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Special Topic"","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/featured.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/featured.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":91,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/age-on-stage\/","url_meta":{"origin":614,"position":4},"title":"Age on Stage","author":"Lissa Tyler Renaud","date":"October 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Nancy Westman* Abstract Age on Stage started in Sweden in 2015, in order to allow mature professional dance artists to carry on their careers for as long as they wish. Charlotta \u00d6fverholm is the woman behind the project. She and Age on Stage are now joining forces, in Sweden as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Special Topic"","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image1-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image1-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image1-2.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/image1-2.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":756,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/a-note-from-the-guest-editors\/","url_meta":{"origin":614,"position":5},"title":"A Note from the Guest Editors","author":"Lissa Tyler Renaud","date":"December 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Manabu Noda* and Yun Cheol Kim** The world is ageing\u2212and fast. According to the United Nations, already one in eleven of the world population is over 65, and by 2050 the rate will be one in six. The 65+ age band outnumbered children under five years of age for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Special Topic"","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/10\/Manabu_Noda2-140x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1203,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions\/1203"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}