Well, it's been a helluva week or so. Last week Saturday, I went to South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, and saw a magnificent dance show ("Ballet X"). Monday, I went to musimelange and heard a gorgeous baroque music concert. Last night, I saw a very captivating exhibit (and had wine, Barbancourt Haitian rum drinks, a beer, and finger foods) at MOCA. Tonight, I went to Sandrell Rivers Theater to see a play ("Bourbon at the Border"). Tomorrow and Saturday, I'm going back to South Miami-Dade. Sunday, I'm going to an Indian music concert.
But I want to talk about the play I saw tonight. It was put on by the M Ensemble, which is an African American theater company, and essentially all of their plays are about African Americans. I almost always go on opening night. It's more expensive -- well, when I say "expensive..." (it was $41) -- but after the opening night performance, there's food, drinks, socializing, and the actors come out after they've gotten cleaned up. So you can meet them, and tell them if you think they did a great job. There were four characters in the play tonight. Rosa had a new boyfriend -- Tyrone -- so their relationship was part of the play. And May is married to Charlie, who had gotten out of a psychiatric hospital for one of a succession of admissions for depression. Charlie also had a limp from a fracture he sustained at some point. Rosa and May were best friends, although Rosa was very fun-loving and was either libidinous or knew how to work men, and May was plain and seemed comparatively exhausted, likely, it seemed, because Charlie was so unstable and prone to depression.
Charlie seemed much better after this most recent hospitalization, and he was eager to get a job. Tyrone worked for a trucking company that was hiring. So maybe Charlie could get a job driving trucks. Tyrone was going to put in a good word with Neil, who was the boss.
As May and Charlie reviewed their relationship, or May talked to Rosa about it, because they had come across some old photographs, it was revealed that May and Charlie had gone down to Mississippi in the 1960s to encourage black people to register to vote. The setting of the play was during or shortly after the Vietnam war, so the background music from the radio was from that period. So we're talking about something like a 12 year difference.
The geographic setting of this play is Detroit, which also influenced the choices of music. The couple sitting behind me were singing along, even though I thought they looked too young to remember that music. I told them so. The woman was, shockingly, two years older than I am -- she could easily pass for 50-55 -- and her male companion was two years older than she was, and also looked much younger than he was.
I have to admit I wasn't sure where this play was going. The write-up about the playwright was such that I expected something very interesting, but I couldn't figure out to what interesting place it was going to go.
And I'm not going to tell you how it ended. The play runs until April 28 -- not every night, so you have to contact them at 305-705-3218 or tgcooper@aol.com to find out their schedule -- and I strongly suggest you go. If you care, the regular ticket price for shows other than opening night is somewhere around $35. Parking is free. Staff are wonderfully friendly. Pat and Shirley operate the M Ensemble. They have very nice staff who take tickets, if you have them, or sell them, if you don't. Sandrell Rivers Theater is at the corner of NW 62nd St and 7th Ave. It's reasonably close to here.
You don't know how this play ends, but I do. When the actors arrived at the post-play reception, I told them they did a great job, and I asked each of them if they saw the end coming as they were reading the play. Not one of them did. Nobody did. I'm reluctant to be hyperbolic about this, but it's kind of brilliant.
Do yourselves a favor.
Thank you Fred. Much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteLauren,
DeleteSince you commented, and I don't think anything between you and me is a secret, I will say about the musimelange concert that I love listening to Amanda Crider sing. (I have a big crush on her, but she's too young for me, I don't interest her, and she has a boyfriend.) I can listen to Amanda all day. But you felt that because the viola da gamba player and the theorbo player, who were husband and wife, had come down from NYC for this (bringing in artists from elsewhere, to perform baroque music, is a remaining legacy from the late and devoted Marvin Sackner), you would have liked to hear more from them, and less singing from Amanda. Robert was out of town, and you brought Stephanie Scher with you. She didn't express an opinion, at least not in my hearing. I was sitting next to my friend, Chris, and her young adult granddaughter, and neither of them expressed an opinion (and I didn't ask). Claudia, the woman who played violin, is the commonest violin player when Anne doesn't do it herself.
As I said to you, viola da gamba and theorbo are more commonly background instruments (despite "Tous Les Matins Du Monde," which you are very welcome to borrow, if you have a DVD player), so I didn't feel they were relegated to a disrespected position. And funny enough, about two weeks ago, I attended a Seraphic Fire concert, and they, too, had a lute player, although a smaller lute than the theorbo.
By the way, Lauren, I don't know when Robert is coming back, but if it's not soon enough, and you want to go, I'll see this play again. Stephanie can come, too, and didn't I see you with Louie Bowen at musimelange (I saw him somewhere in the past few days)? If I did, he can come, too. And so can Dale.
DeleteAll right. Fine. Do you want one more piece of information? Do you want to know if the end of this play was almost crushingly sad, and if I, as a member of the audience, and the woman who played May, felt like crying? Yes, we both did, and I have no doubt much of the audience and some of the other actors felt the same way. As I said, nobody saw this coming.
ReplyDelete