Ole Blue, Shadows and Substance
This powerful August Wilson drama is directed by Lou
Bellamy. It is playing at their site,
602 NE Prescott St. (free parking lot two blocks North on 6th),
through June 10th. For more
information, go to their site at www.portlandplayhouse.org
or call 503-488-5822.
Thoreau famously said that we lead lives of “quiet
desperation,” and so it is here. But we
all don’t have a Walden Pond to escape to, as he did, where one can sort things
out. But, if inner demons eat at you and
the Past haunts you, then no amount of solace will save you. So, Troy, stifled by his dreams, the only way
out is to keep swinging, lashing out until the final inning, when the horn is
blown, and the game is over, and your score is tallied as to wins and losses.
Troy (Lester Purry), a middle-aged man in Philly in about
the mid-fifties, seems to have a tiger by its tail, but who is wagging whom. He is a failed baseball player who earns a
living by picking up garbage for the Sanitation Dept. His best friend for many years, Bono (Bryant
Bentley), works along beside him. Their
daily routine after work consists of having a snort, bragging about their
prowess with women and heading down to the local dive for checkers or to watch
“the game.”
Rose (Erika LaVonn) is his ever-faithful, strong-willed wife,
who tolerates his excesses and loves him all the more, all these many
years. Cory (La’ Tevin Alexander) is
their teenage son on the verge of getting a football scholarship to college but
shirks his duties at home. One of which
is to help his Dad build a fence around their house, which seems to be a
never-ending project.
Troy also has a son, Lyons (Seth Rue), from a former
marriage, who is a jazz musician at nights in clubs which, according to Troy,
is not a “real” job but a distraction.
And then there is Gabriel (Bobby Bermea), Troy’s mentally-challenged
brother, having a steel plate in his head from a war injury. Gab has his own unique way of dealing with
the world and has his horn at the ready to announce the end of the world, when
his buddy, St. Peter, gives him the signal.
This is the cast, shy one character, Raynell (Imani Hill or
Serelle Strickland, alternating the role) a little girl who will appear near
the end. The stage is set, the spring
wound tight for the conflicts, confrontations and confessions of these
struggling, wounded souls in their mini-America. Here there be roars from this Pride and
echoes from it that may spell a better tomorrows. Really can’t tell you more, as Wilson’s
masterful storytelling style and explosive dialogue does it so much better.
Bellamy is the perfect choice for director, having known
Wilson himself and having played Troy, too.
His use and balance of the characters on the stage, as well as his
intimate understanding of the material, shows to powerful advantage in this
production, as it teeters between all out rages then, when the storm is quelled,
lulls you in the quieter moments. A
master directing a masterpiece!
The set (designer, Daniel Meeker, a veteran of many
productions) is so realistic, you feel you could walk upon it and be
transported back in time. The cast is
the best I’ve seen in the many Wilson plays I have witnessed. Standing out among the best is Bermea, always
exceptional in any theatre project he undertakes, as the troubled brother,
balancing beautifully humor with sadness; LaVonn, as the dutiful wife, who
matches Troy expertly in power when maligned; and Purry, as the focus
character, who is a true anti-hero, that you despise, feel sorry for and
empathized with, often at the same time.
A crowning performance among many Royalty!
I highly recommend this production, it’s not to be missed,
as it’s one of the finest in the NW. If
you do choose to see it, please tell them Dennis sent
you.
--DJS
No comments:
Post a Comment