Review: AFRICAN STEW at Lorraine Hansberry Theatre

African Stew

By Lisa B. Thompson

Directed by Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe

Lorraine Hansberry Theatre

In a foreshadowing of a major event to come, Julie, an African American woman, checks the result of a pregnancy test. In acclaimed playwright Lisa B. Thompson’s latest offering, a dinner celebrating a love affair will pit two families, two cultures and chosen identities in a charming comic stew of intergenerational perspectives.

Julie (Sundiata Ayinde) and her Nigerian boyfriend Ken (Titus VanHook) are deeply in love - their cozy flat full of red roses. Julie’s busy attempting to cook a true Nigerian feast for his visiting parents including Egusi soup, a savory staple. Her bff Trish (Carla Gallardo) is a shit-stirrer, questioning Julie on her fast-track engagement, the name she’ll take after marriage and wondering how a Black American can bridge the gap with an African man.

The concept of cultural divides plays big here and Thompson cleverly exposes the differences and challenges the couple may face. This is wonderfully achieved when both sets of parents arrive and simmering tensions boil over. African Stew reminds me of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” where interracial love and its complications where exposed and challenged by parents. Here, the parents battle it out over status, control, and deep-rooted expectations.

Much of the comedy derives from Thompson’s richly drawn parental characters. Julie’s parents are upscale Black Americans- she runs an Afro-centric bookstore and loves the arts; the proud father Harold is lawyer from Hunters Point. Ken’s parents are uber wealthy, haughty and elitist. They clash over their choice of wines, Julie’s wedding dress, and anything else they can use to one-up each other. Ron Chapman, Margo Hall, Jeunée Simon, and ShawnJ West are wonderful in their roles, oblivious to their children’s wishes.

African Stew begs the questions of whether oil and water can mix. Is there an untenable divide between Africans and their American counterparts? Of course, in the end, love conquers all separations and that’s the point.

African Stew continues through September 27th. Tickets and information available at www.lhtsf.org/african-stew.

Photo credits: Alejandro Ramos

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