A few months ago, the Guthrie produced a Pearl Cleage play called
Blues for an Alabama Sky, a lovely and ultimately tragic story about a group of friends living in 1930s Harlem. Now Penumbra is bringing us her play
What I Learned in Paris, about a group of friends living in Atlanta in the '70s. This story is a little lighter, but not without depth. It begins on the night that
Maynard Jackson was elected mayor of Atlanta, the first Black mayor in any major Southern city. Our group is filled with hope at the new world this event signals, but also aware that inequality still exists, in the areas of race and gender both. Director Lou Bellamy calls it an "insightful and often provocative romantic comedy," and this co-production with Portland Playhouse is fun to watch, while still exploring important issues that are still relevant nearly 50 years after this historic election. See
What I Learned in Paris at Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul's historic Rondo neighborhood now through May 14.
