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Créole
By M.E.H. Lewis
Produced by InFusion Theatre Company
At Storefront Theatre
66 E. Randolph St.
Chicago, IL
Tickets: 773-742-8497 or www.dcatheater.org , $20
Thur-Sat at 7:30 p.m., Sun at 3:00 p.m.
Running time is about two hours with one intermission
Through November 18th
An Original Play Infused with Drama and African Dance
InFusion Theater Company’s world premiere of M.E.H. Lewis’ Créole provides an insightful look at life on a Southern plantation at the time of the Nat Turner rebellion of 1831. In case your history needs a bit of tuning up, Turner led a group of slaves on a murderous rampage that left over 50 white men, women and children slaughtered and perhaps as many as 200 black slaves and free blacks executed in retaliation. An informative lobby piece from dramaturg Jaime Bragg gives the historical background of the setting, but the show is much more than a history lesson. In fact, Créole isn’t about Nat Turner at all, but rather the complexities of human relationships in the daily lives of plantation inhabitants, both slave and owner.
From the moment ten-year-old Micah Dejon Williams struts out to begin the show director Mitch Golob and choreographer Kimosha P. Murphy let the audience know that they are in for something entertaining and something beautiful. Williams is part of a quartet of energetic African dancers (Meghan Brown, Eleho Temuru, Shanna Woods) who reveal the toil and the passions of the plantation’s enslaved Africans. A tenet of InFusion Theatre Company productions is the “infusing” of multiple forms of entertainment into the show. My first reaction to seeing that in the press release was one of dread because I hate contrived vehicles whose only purpose is to create performance space for elements that really don’t serve a purpose; however, that is definitely not the case in Créole. The dancers eloquently and efficiently deliver layers of the plantation narrative that are essential to the play and which could not otherwise be there. The show suffers from a scene or two too many, so the dancers are essential. Besides, everyone loves a cute kid and the talented young Williams is as cute as a kid can be on top of holding his own with the adult dancers. The dancers also serve as non-speaking actors who populate the plantation and move the set pieces about to the rhythms of one-man percussion orchestra Paul Cotton. Cotton’s unobtrusive use of his dozens of percussion instruments is a side attraction in the corner that alone is worth far more than the ticket price.
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It takes fine acting to rise above so much talented support and Créole’s actors are up to the task. Shadana Patterson plays Cora, the precocious young slave who is the center of a plantation love triangle. Veteran Don Tieri delivers a powerful performance as Judge Lucius, a benevolent master based on Nat Turner’s real-life owner, who teaches the flirtatious Cora to read and falls in love along the way. Fran Wilkerson is flawless as Cora’s protective Aunt Maisie. Abu Ansari and H. Lynn Kendziera round out the cast as Tom the carpenter slave who wants to marry Cora and Julia, the judge’s younger sister. As noted earlier, Créole has perhaps a few too many scenes, especially in the first act, but overall the show is fast-paced and very entertaining. Some of the plot elements in Lewis’ thoroughly planned script are as unfathomable to me as slavery itself. The relationship between Cora and Tom is ambiguous and Cora’s overt flirtation with Lucius is hard to accept – but so is Lucius’ benevolence, which apparently is based on historical fact as told by Nat Turner himself. On the other hand, Lewis, in collaboration with dialect coach Eva Breneman, has nailed the dialect perfectly and the total effect is quite realistic. Créole is a first class play and an outstanding example of why I continue to say that Chicago is the most interesting theatre scene there is.
RECOMMENDED
Randy Hardwick
randyontheglobe@yahoo.com for coments
Date Reviewed: November 3, 2007
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