Review: THE MAGNOLIA BALLET at Shotgun Players

A Black queer teen longs to be touched, to be held and squeezed tight. His expression of love is hampered by generations of stoic, toxic masculinity unable to express tenderness or self-expression. Beautifully staged beneath the boughs of the Georgia magnolia trees, director Aejay Antonis Marquis imagines Terry Guests’ award-winning Sothern Gothic story as a surreal epic poem, fusing ghosts of the past with the American history of slavery, oppression, and its stultifying aftereffects. We’ve seen this history presented before, and the difficulty of coming out as a Black man is tragically known, but Guest’s juxtaposition of loving tenderness with the brutality of boxed up emotions combined with Marquis’ lyrical staging and four outstanding performances make The Magnolia Ballet a very special gift.

Winner of the Jeff Awards for Best Production and Best Performer as well as The David Goldman Award for Best New American Play, The Magnolia Ballet feels epic in scope, with its four actors morphing into multiple roles, both male and female to tell the story of how young Ezekial and his father came to inhabit this tough marsh land. Z (Jaiden Griffin) loves the history and memories, donning an old pair of shoes passed down from endless generations. His father (Drew Watkins) wants to sell and move on – home can be anywhere for him.

Devin A. Cunningham plays the apparitions, the ghosts of the past who haunt the present and challenge them to explore new beginnings. Nicholas René Rodriquez plays Z’s down-low boyfriend Danny. His reluctance is guided by his macho police father- he can have his hidden sex but won’t cross the line of kissing as that’s beyond his allowed capability. Their relationship is both tender, funny, and sad. When a beautiful love scene turns homophobically violent, we feel their disconnect and pain. When he cries “Do I have the right to kill something just cause I’m afraid,” the history of slavery, the KKK, racism and homophobia is distilled succinctly.

Projected graphics and the use of an arched window covered by a diffuse scrim from which the ghosts bring us the past all enhance the dreamlike vision. There’s a funny bit with white men justifying slavery through the years with their definitions of white benevolence, and a visit by Scarlet O’Hara of Gone with the Wind fame, the petulant doyenne of white privilege. The performances are outstanding, the look both sacred and dreamy (lighting: Michael D, Combs, set design: Imani Wilson and Sophie Ruf, projections: Spense Matubang, sound design: Jules Indelicato). The modern ballet movements by Marquis add to the tenderness and kudos to Raia Donato (fight choreography and Jeunèe Simon for her intimacy choreography. The spiritual songs interspersed throughout flesh out the intergenerational thread of hope and pain as they move through time. Is there hope for young Z to express and receive love? We sure hope so.

The Magnolia Ballet continues through August 10th. Tickets available at www.shotgunplayers.org/show/magnolia  or by calling (510) 841-6500 x303.

San Francisco / Bay Area Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. URINETOWN (Ghostlight Theatre Ensemble)

16.9% of votes

2. THE DAY THE SKY TURNED ORANGE (San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company / Z Space)

9.1% of votes

3. SWEENEY TODD (Cabrillo Stage)

8.6% of votes

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