Everyman's Epic 'Gem of the Ocean': A Brilliant Jewel

SHOW INFORMATION: Through April 27. Weds – Thurs at 7:30PM, Fri – Sat at 8PM, Sun at 7PM, matinees Sat and Sun at 2PM.  Tickets $18 - $35.  For more information and/or reservations, call 410-752-2208 or go to www.everymantheatre.org.

 

◊◊◊◊◊ out of five.  3 hours, including intermission.  Contains adult language, situations and racial epithets.

The Mount Vernon Cultural District is alive and thriving thanks to the beautiful staging of A Little Night Music at CENTERSTAGE, and now with the opening mere blocks away of a brilliantly staged, triumphantly acted regional premiere at Everyman Theatre.  The play is August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean, by far one of his best, most well-constructed plays in the 10-play cycle.  This one chronicles the opening decade of the 20^th century, where the ravages of the Civil War are daily felt by men and women who lived through it.  Like the other plays, Wilson uses a heady mix of detailed, unique characters, a healthy dose of social criticism (often aimed in multiple directions, including at the actions of African-Americans), and a special dash of mysticism.  Fans of his works will not be disappointed, and newcomers (or detractors) will likely find much to love about this vibrant, edgy and epic drama.  Staged by Jennifer L. Nelson with almost poetic strokes, high tension, and sublime earthiness, this glorious production alternately sings and moans and screams.  You will leave the theatre changed – standards higher, emotions on full alert – and it will stay with you for days.

The basic premise of the play is that the setting, a home in Pittsburgh is considered a sanctuary for the troubled souls of the area.  Given the climate outside the house – blacks can't move to the North because the South can't accept the end of slavery, keeping the underground railroad alarmingly alive, and Northern blacks getting their first taste of autonomy and authority are nearly as bad as their white slave-owning predecessors – it is no wonder such a sanctuary is needed.  The chief occupant, Aunt Ester, closing in on her 300th year of life (yes, you read that correctly) is known to have the ability to cleanse souls.  Joining her is Eli, a calm, peaceful man determined to maintain that very peace and Black Mary, a strong young woman, literate and with a variety of skills.  Black Mary herself came to the home for sanctuary and never left.  Rutherford Selig, a character who appears in Joe Turner's Come and Gone, is a white man sympathetic to the black cause, and a defender of freedom; Solly Two Kings is a man of dignity and considerable history fighting the good fight to keep everyone free, no matter the personal cost.  Caesar (appropriately named) is a black law man, who despite a past championing the down-trodden and ill-treated, now sees life in purely black and white terms – things are legal or not legal.  He wields the law book and gun with equal abandon and a stunning amount of self-righteousness; it would be most fair to call him a racist bigot against his own people.  All of their lives are about to change, though, with the arrival of young and very desperate Citizen Barlow, who has come to lose the burden of a terrible secret with the help of Aunt Ester.  But that secret could touch off a chain of events that could cause the precarious peace of Pittsburgh to erupt like a dormant volcano.

Ms. Nelson's staging is as specific and detailed as Mr. Wilson's script.  No detail, it seems, is left to chance.  The three hour drama whizzes by in large part to her deft staging of every moment, including scene changes that reflect the passage of time and characters' relationships.  She keeps the dialogue going at a rapid, tension building clip, allowing for occasional light moments to ease things before the temperature goes way up.  Only when characters are delivering one of Wilson's trademark soliloquies does the pacing slow down, and it does so fittingly, so that we may savor a luminous thematic moment coupled with mind-blowing quality acting.

Everyman Theatre never disappoints with production values, and Gem of the Ocean is no exception.  Scenic designer Daniel Ettinger has once again created a set that you could live in and that surprises.  His attention to detail is simply the best.  Similarly, Dan Covey's homey and ethereal lighting and Chas Marsh's indispensible sound design combine to give theatergoers a truly magical live theater experience.  As always, Kathleen Geldard's costumes are exemplary, thoroughly researched, text and character driven and original.  Special recognition also needs to go to Liza Davies, the props designer, who has created wonderfully period pieces and truly artistic and remarkable props for a key scene in act two.

Part of the magic of Wilson's plays, though, is the sheer depth and quality of even the smallest roles, and the specificity and imagery-filled dialogue and lines.  Much like Shakespeare, a blank stage could be pallet enough given the right actors.  Well, thankfully, at Everyman, we can have both top-notch technical theatre AND Broadway-level acting.  Please forgive me as I indulge my awe and respect for this company of actors.

Given that he has the least amount of stage time – the pivotal aspect of his part happens mostly offstage – it is no small credit to Stephen Patrick Martin that his role, Rutherford Selig has such important impact.  The lone white actor on stage, his role and his acting in it are crucial in representing the larger idea that not all white folks are against the newly freed blacks, which in this play is important enough for Wilson to have included the character.  The antithesis of Selig is much discussed throughout the play, and by giving his side of the issue a face, it somehow makes the unseen opposite that much more terrifying.  He also represents a sharp counter point to another black character, Caesar, who has pretty much taken the law into his own hands, not unlike the ruthless Southern whites who have trapped everyone of color in a new kind of hell.

Caesar, so aptly named, is played with unflinching, uncompromising fervor by Kevin Jiggetts.  A completely unlikeable character, every moment he is on the stage, you can feel a palpable sense of dread and fear, both onstage and in the audience.  The venomous diatribes he spews against his own people, full of words I am not allowed to print, drew continual gasps and horrified murmurs in the opening night crowd.  Mr. Jiggetts is giving the most divisive, completely cruel and unforgiving performance I might have ever seen.  I hated Caesar every single second he was onstage, and every single time he was mentioned.  And that, readers, equals one of the finest performances I have witnessed in years of covering theatre.

In perhaps the most quiet role (until things get downright ugly, that is), Doug Brown, as Eli, conveys a much needed warmth from a male character.  His is a violent past, having been both slave and freedom fighter, having seen the horrible things men can do to each other.  And yet, Mr. Brown fills Eli with a touching sense of spirituality and hope.  He also provides some welcome lighter moments, and overall, gives a fine performance that never gets lost in the face of the more outwardly dramatic parts.  Dawn Ursula plays Black Mary in a mysteriously cagey kind of way.  She is slow to show us all of her character's hand – those cards are drawn tightly to her chest and revealed only when necessary.  Her sullen demeanor belies certain mischievousness and the twinkle in her eye lets us glimpse at the love and humor she harbors deeper inside than is perhaps necessary.  But Black Mary has learned, through several husbands and a nasty close relative that playing it close to the vest is to err on the side of good caution.  There is a terrific scene in act two where Ms. Ursula really lets it all go, and the pay off is more than worth the wait.

Solly Two Kings is a very complex character: an aging man, a former slave who fights to keep his dignity in tact, and gets strength from his past.  He is an amazing mix of reality, hope, pride and deep spirituality, and he is played with a loving touch by Keith N. Johnson.  Mr. Johnson commands the stage when he is on it, and he creates - with economy of movement and special attention to every syllable he utters – profound connections with each member of this household, his extended family.  His rage at recent turns of event and the fear for his sister, trapped in Alabama, simmer and boil underneath until he almost literally explodes.  Johnson, thankfully, is very careful never to overact or put a histrionic spin on any of his lengthier sermon-like speeches.

As newcomer Citizen Barlow, younger man Jefferson A. Russell, gives a superlative performance.  His presence on stage is a heady mix of wide-eyed innocence, broad male ego, tangible fear, and an almost childlike belief in being saved from his own tortured soul.  And Mr. Russell plays each nuance of the character with such clarity and passion, it is hard not to rush the stage to help him.  He has several excellent moments, but he truly stands out once in each act – in act one he reveals the reason for his torture, and in act two his transformation through Aunt Ester's "healing ritual" is jaw-dropping.  Mr. Russell is an actor that I hope we will see again soon locally.

Given that Mr. Jiggetts and Mr. Russell are delivering flawless, brilliant performances, it almost seems impossible to believe that they are (appropriately) overshadowed by the bravura performance of Lizan Mitchell as Aunt Ester.  And yet, she does just that.  Ms. Mitchell has inhabited the aging body of 287 year old Aunt Ester as if it were really her skin to crawl into.  A magnetic and delightful tour-de-force, Ms. Mitchell is the perfect blend of age, wisdom, unwavering faith and spry feistiness that makes Aunt Ester, age and all, completely believable.  When she is spouting off bits of been-there-done-that wisdom, you almost want to write them down yourself in hopes that just knowing them will allow you as long a life.  Mitchell's brilliant body language conveys not only the toll of aging, but the frustration of having a body that is far less sharp than the mind.  For that, one need only look into her deep, expressive eyes.  The performance is so real, so captivating, that you truly feel like you are in the presence of a magical, impossibly aged, but very much alive saint.  As an actively involved patron of the play, you are swept up into Aunt Ester's world; as a patron of the art of theatre, you are captivated by what might actually be that illusive, but much talked about experience that is life-changing.  With this performance, Ms. Mitchell has raised the bar of fine acting immeasurably.

Whenever I see a play of such magnitude and quality in Baltimore, I am horribly disappointed that we don't have an esteemed award like other major theatre cities – Chicago's Jefferson or DC's Helen Hayes come first to mind.  Gem of the Ocean would likely sweep them all if we did.

PHOTOS by Stan Barouh, courtesy of Everyman Theatre.  TOP to BOTTOM: Keith N. Johnson, Jefferson A. Russell and Doug Brown; Dawn Ursula and Jefferson A. Russell; Keith N. Johnson and Lizan Mitchell; Lizan Mitchell.

 

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