Review: THE GREAT PRIVATION at Woolly Mammoth

Rising NYC playwright Nia Akilah Robinson’s new offering, The Great Privation, arrives at Woolly Mammoth as its second destination, recently having its debut at Soho (NY) Theatre. What unfolds is engaging, challenging and heartfelt, but ultimately hard to pin down. Robinson’s Harlem roots and experience are brought to light to illuminate the black experience in a generationally time-bending way. “A Raisin in the Sun” it is not.

The title gives nary a clue and the opening scene finds us in a 1832 period piece, outside Philadelphia. We meet Mrs. Freeman (a wise, yet beset upon Yetunde Felix-Ukwo) and her daughter Charity (a boundlessly questioning Victoria Omoriegie), freed slaves chatting about life and their circumstances in a relaxed, casual tone. Felix-Ukwo has the most quotable lines, offering up “Rich blacks are always putting upon poor blacks. That's just the way it is.” And later, when Charity wonders where her relatives came from, she intones “Why are you worried about where we come from? We're just people.”

 We soon realize that their mission is to guard Freeman’s recently deceased husband Moses at a graveyard, holding to their African beliefs that a spirit takes 3 days to go to its final ancestral home.  Their concern is validated by the appearance of a paid grave robber/digger (depending on your viewpoint,) and their attempt to adhere to Moses's wish for them to send his spirit off to his home country of Sierra Leone is interrupted by John (an entertainingly over the top Zack Powell,) who is assigned to get the body for medical research. Another character, a black university janitor (here played by the spot on Marc Pierre,) appears later to pick up the corpse, but Mother Freeman pays him off.

The seeming inhumanity of the act, rooted in fact, (as many black, minority and unclaimed bodies were used in scientific experimentation) is part of the overall metaphor of the history of black mistreatment, especially after the civil war and the ensuing social unrest. Here, we are literally transported away from the usual one class over another to juxtapose one time to another. We next see modern day Mother Freeman and Charity as camp counselors on the same grounds as the original Moses graveyard site. They struggle with life’s daily problems—Mother Freeman worrying about her ailing mother, Charity on probation for social media posts, and our janitor and gravedigger John are supervisor and camp mates that add some very entertaining scenes, lightening the atmosphere. The time jump gives a perspective of how life changes but really remains the same. A channelling of present day burial elements then produces a strange cosmic occurance linking the time periods.  
There are some very nice elements expressed in the production; from the comfortable, flowing conversations to the sparse set design by Megan Raham that contains a trap door and large low riser centering the action. Also inventive is the ever-present digital clock in the background which begins at 72:00:00 and counts down until the 3 day spirit releasing waiting period ends.

Felix-Ukwo gives a solid performance as a heartfelt matron, put upon by the world and her daughter. And as her daughter, Omoriegie’s rambunctious and questioning manner plays well, though more character separation between time periods would be appreciated. Powell and Pierre provide hilarious hijinks to lighten up the present-day period, but there was, sadly, no real resolution for mother and daughter. Strong performances helped Robinson’s spot-on capture of everyday speech but left them with no off ramp. When fantasizing what Jesus would be like, we have Pierre break out as black Jesus in a dance number in red velour and top hat. Entertaining, but it felt like we just jumped the shark. “The Great Privation” displays nice conversational feel and authenticity, but Robinson may have tried too hard to mix genre and type. 

Take a woolly walk in the graveyard. But bring your flashlight. You may have to find your way back.