BWW Reviews: THE MOVEMENT – 50 YEARS OF LOVE AND STRUGGLE Offers Dose of Education at Capital Fringe

Every year, there are at least a handful of Capital Fringe selections that deal seriously with topics of social importance on a national scale. This year is no exception. Among those is Ron Jones' The Movement: 50 Years of Love and Struggle, playing at the Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint. While it addresses a most timely issue and would likely do well on the educational circuit, the production is unfortunately lacking in, well (it must be said)...theatricality.

The Movement: 50 Years of Love and Struggle traces developments in the civil rights movement from the 1960s to present day in three "acts". The framework Jones employs is mostly a chronological one that allows for an exploration of known and lesser known successes, obstacles, and situations experienced by African Americans over the past 50-plus years. The examination of the broader national context is a backdrop for the audience to hear snippets of one common/everyday man's story, and that of his son, over the course of the 50-plus years - one of the production's greatest assets. The message the two men embody is a simple yet important one. At the end of the 1960s, so much promise was possible with racial equality, but so much work was yet to be done. In 2015, the same is true. The years in between then and now offer moves forward and steps back, each having profound implications for the individual and the collective over the long-term.

While the production offers educational value and would likely be marketable to high schools and introductory level community college courses, in the end the audience is left with what boils down to a history lesson featuring some new information (for me at least) and some that's not so new. Why is this, you ask? Jones and Director Willette Thompson have chosen to mostly tell the story through PowerPoint slides with quotes, facts, and statistics, as well as video footage (some historical and some not). Jones appears onstage briefly between or during these segments to provide commentary on a given topic from the perspective of a variety of individuals - a school janitor, an incarcerated African American, a member of the clergy etc. - at various points in history. The sheer number of slides - many of which feature full sentences - means that any one audience member (provided he/she can properly focus for 90 minutes) spends more time reading facts that could be found on the Internet than fully immersing his or herself into what could be a potentially engaging and deeply affecting story.

Additionally, while the projected timeline of events provides some necessary cohesion to the sprawling but thematically-centered work, these dates/facts provide structure and nothing more. There is no chance whatsoever to digest the "so what?" of the facts and dates being presented other than to say, "wow, there's been progress, but there's so much more work to do." Jones crams a lot of information in to the hour and a half he spends educating us - whether live and in person or not - but, at the end it's mostly just information.

The bottom line? While Jones is a confident and engaging performer when he speaks and it is clear that his source material is well-researched, these positives are not sufficient to make this production a recommended viewing in the Fringe. The video elements, especially, are important to include in a production that is essentially a historical narrative, but I just wish the creators had put more effort into integrating them well with live performance. If word-based slide presentations are to be used - and they most certainly have their place - my advice is to use them sparingly and when it makes sense to do so. Careful attention must also be paid to ensure the slides feature proper word usage/spelling and punctuation. Many other theatrical productions have covered common ground although maybe not in such a comprehensive way. Unfortunately for Jones, those productions have what his production lacks. They are theatrical and provide ample opportunities for any one audience member to connect with the material in a personal way - whether steeped in African American history, personally affected by it, or not - because they tell a story in an engaging way.

The production can be a starting point for a conversation - which may be what Jones intended - but taken on its own, there are limits to consider.

Running Time: 90 minutes, with no intermission.

The Movement: 50 Years of Love and Struggle has eight more performances through July 22. For ticket, date, and venue information, click here.

Graphic: Courtesy of Capital Fringe website.

To post a comment, you must register and login.