"Joe Turner's Come and Gone" at Penumbra Theatre

When I was in New York City a few months ago, I saw signs for the Broadway revival of Joe Turner's Come and Gone, with some big names attached, but I'd rather see it at Penumbra Theatre right here in St. Paul. Joe Turner was the 4th play written by August Wilson in his Pittsburgh Cycle of ten plays, each taking place in a different decade, chronicling the Black American experience throughout the 20th Century. The second play chronologically, it takes place in Pittsburgh in the 1910s, but was written in the 1980s when August Wilson was living in St. Paul, working closely with Penumbra. This is the 4th of the ten plays I've seen, all at Penumbra, and there's nowhere better to see his work than at one of his artistic homes, directed by Penumbra founder Lou Bellamy who was his close collaborator, performed by actors who have spoken his words and inhabited his characters many times. Joe Turner's Come and Gone continues at Penumbra Theatre through June 21.

"Penumbra Theatre at 40: Art, Race and a Nation on Stage" Exhibit at the Minnesota History Center

Penumbra Theatre is celebrating its 40th anniversary with an exhibit at the Minnesota History Center entitled "Penumbra Theatre at 40: Art, Race and a Nation on Stage." I toured the exhibit last weekend with my fellow Twin Cities Theater Bloggers from Artfully Engaging, Compendium, Life in Revue, and One Girl Two Cities, and we had a great time. This comprehensive exhibit tells about the history of Penumbra, its beginnings 40 years ago, its close relationship to one of the most important African American playwrights August Wilson, and its growth to become one of the top African American theaters in the country. On display are posters, playbills, costumes, set pieces, and props, as well as photos of past, present, and departed company members. It's an incredible collection of artifacts important to history, theater, Minnesota, and the African American experience.

"Jitney" at Penumbra Theatre

Jitney is the first play in the so-called "Century Cycle" that August Wilson wrote, but, set in the '70s, it's the 8th in the series chronologically. Each of the ten plays speaks to the African American experience (which I've learned at Penumbra Theatre is really the American experience) in one decade in the 20th Century. This is only the third Century play I've seen, after Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (set in the '20s) and Two Trains Running (the '60s) in 2011. I seem to recall that Penumbra planned to produce one of these plays every year, or maybe every other, but plans were derailed during their financial setback of 2012. I'm happy that they've returned to August Wilson's work during this, their 40th anniversary season. Penumbra has a long history with August Wilson, having produced his first professional play and more of his plays that any other theater. We are privileged to have Penumbra in our community, and I hope that they continue to do the Century plays until I've seen them all. August Wilson wrote such rich characters and specific experiences that speak to the universal truths of friends and family, love and heartbreak. And Penumbra's troupe of actors is experienced and quite brilliant in bringing these stories to life, as they do in Jitney.

"Two Trains Running" at Penumbra Theatre

I saw my first August Wilson play earlier this year, Penumbra Theatre's production of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at the Guthrie.  I was so affected by it that I now have a goal to see all of the plays in Wilson's ten-play cycle, each one covering the African American experience in a different decade in the 20th century.  Lucky for me I live here, where the Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul has produced more August Wilson plays than any other theater in the country.  So it's pretty likely that I'll meet my goal in the next ten years or so.

Ma Rainey is set in the 1920s, and Two Trains Running is set in the 1960s.  It has a little more of a happy ending that what I remember from Ma Rainey, which has a pretty bleak outlook.  This play takes place in a fading restaurant in Pittsburgh in 1969.  The city wants to buy it from the owner, Memphis, and he's determined to set his own price.  The play's characters are the locals who frequent the restaurant (played by many of the same actors I saw in Ma Rainey).  They play the numbers in hopes of a way out, drink coffee, argue with each other, and visit "Aunt Edna," a woman who claims she's over 300 years old and can predict the future.

James Craven (who still sounds like Tommy Lee Jones) is Memphis and has a couple of great moments, including a drunken celebratory scene.  Memphis' land was taken away from him in the South, so he moved north to make a better life for himself.  He has, but still thinks about going home.  Crystal Fox, the only woman in the cast, plays the unappreciated waitress Risa.  She drags her heels slowly around the stage, pouring coffee, wiping down tables, and refilling the sugar.  Her weariness with life is evident in every word, expression, and movement, until she finds something to hope for.  Namely, the newcomer Sterling (James T. Alfred), who's just been released from prison and is restlessly looking for a job or something to occupy his time and energy.  Wolf (Kevin D. West) uses the restaurant as an office for his business running numbers and tries to get Risa's attention, but she's not interested.  West (Dennis W. Spears) is the rich man in town who owns the funeral home as well as many businesses, and has been trying to buy Memphis out for years.  Abdul Salaam El Razzac is the regular Holloway, who seems like he's been coming in, sitting at the same table, and eating the same food for years.  And then there's the man called Hambone because every day for ten years he demands the ham that was promised him in payment, and never gets it.  Ahanti Young, who was so great as Ma Rainey's stuttering nephew, again plays someone who doesn't quite fit in with such tenderness and dignity.  All of these characters are so beautifully created and lived in by these actors.  The set looked real and lived in too; I wanted to pull up a chair and order some macaroni and cheese.  By the end of the play, Memphis gets his price, Sterling and Risa attend a rally for Malcolm X, and Hambone gets his ham.  Things are changing, the neighborhood is dying, but there's hope for the future.

Although I've seen a few Penumbra productions at the Guthrie, this was my first time at their theater near Selby and Dale in St. Paul.  It's a great space (it feels fresh and modern with great artwork on the walls) in a great location (close to the freeway with lots of nearby restaurants).  Here's an easy equation to remember: August Wilson + Penumbra Theatre = great theater not to be missed.  I look forward to the next one.

"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" by Penumbra Theatre at the Guthrie

August Wilson wrote ten plays about the African-American experience, each covering one decade in the 20th century.  He lived in St. Paul for over ten years and worked closely with Penumbra Theatre, which has produced more of his plays than any other theater in the world, including several world premieres.  They're currently doing Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at the Guthrie, directed by Penumbra Artistic Director Lou Bellamy.  Set in Chicago in the 1920s, Ma Rainey is a fictional account of a recording session of the real life blues singer of the same name.  But it's really about so much more than that.  The way Wilson weaves in themes of racism and history and unspeakable horror along with an entertaining and humorous story is just remarkable.  After the show there was a discussion let by Penumbra Education Director Sarah Bellamy and two experts on race relations, Herbert A. Perkins and Elona Street-Stewart.  The discussion was much more profound and insightful than anything I could say!

Everyone in this cast is amazing in their roles.  Ma Rainey is played by Jevetta Steele of the fabulous local singing family The Steeles.  Ma is what some might call a "diva."  But really, she's a woman who knows what she wants and knows that her power is limited.  Before her voice is recorded, while there's something that she has that the studio owner and her manager still want, she is able to exert some power over her situation.  But as soon as the recording is done and she's signed the release, they don't need her anymore and she's nothing to them.  The four-member band is comprised of Cutler (James Craven), the leader who speaks in rapid-fire words that reminded me of Tommy Lee Jones; Toledo (Abdul Salaam El Razzac), the wise and book-reading piano player; Slow Drag (William John Hall, Jr.), the easy-going bass player; and Levee (James T. Alfred) a young man who has dreams and ambitions of his own.  He wants to play his own arrangements and improvisations, which does not go over well with Ma.  Much of the play is these four men talking and joking with each other.  Their characters are so specific and interesting that it's a pleasure to listen to them go on about nothing, but also difficult at times when we catch glimpses of the pain that's behind it all.

The recording session hits a few rough patches.  Ma wants her stuttering nephew Sylvester (Ahanti Young) to record an intro to one of the songs, and it's just heart-breaking to listen to him struggle with the words until he gets it right.  Ma's glamorous girl Dussie Mae (Lerea Carter) flirts with Levee, spurring Ma on to jealousy.  All the while the studio owner Sturdyvant (played by Michael Tezla, my costar from A Serious Man), watches from the office above while Ma's manager Irvin (Phil Kilbourne) acts as a go-between, making sure everyone is happy and gets what they want.  Eventually the songs are recorded satisfactorally and Ma and her entourage leave the studio.  The band is left behind to pack up their things.  Levee gives Sturdyvant some songs that he wrote, hoping to record them with his own band.  Instead, Sturdyvant gives him five dollars for each song and sends him on his way.  Levee is devastated, and takes his anger and disappointment out on one of the other band members in a tragic ending to the play.  It's an ending that's been bubbling up throughout the course of the play, almost as if it were inevitable.  Which doesn't make it any less shocking.

There's so much that needs to be said about this play, and I don't even know where to begin.  I guess I'll close by saying: if you have the chance to see an August Wilson play, take it.  Obviously I don't know a whole lot about what it means to be a person of color in this country.  But I feel like after watching an August Wilson play, I understand a little bit more of our shared history.  I'm making it a goal to see all ten plays in the cycle at some point in my lifetime.  One down, nine to go.