Goodman Theatre
Tickets: 312-443-3800
Through May 24
The Goodman Theatre is the only theatre that has presented all of the August Wilson canon – a series of nine plays that deal with the African-American experience in 20th Century USA. The latest (although chronologically the first) in the series is now receiving it’s world premiere. Epic in scope, Gem of the Ocean is a marvelous piece of work.
I have seen most of the August Wilson canon (the Goodman, the Huntington Theatre in Boston, and on Broadway). I have always enjoyed Wilson’s work because of the poetic nature of his plays. There is also a strong spiritual and often mystical element to his work - sort of a Deus Ex Machina for the 20th Century. The Gem of the Ocean is no exception. Each of his plays in this series explore life in the Pittsburgh Hill District, and each play belongs to a specific decade of the 20th century.
Gem of the Ocean is set in 1904, when slavery was still fresh in the minds of many. The atmosphere in 1904 Pittsburgh isn’t actually very different from the days just forty years before. Black men and women were treated unfairly in their working conditions, and subsequently in their housing conditions, many of them paying dearly for housing provided by their employers.
Gem of the Ocean takes place at 1839 Wylie Avenue, the home of Aunt Ester (Greta Oglesby). Aunt Ester shares the house with Black Mary (Yvette Ganier) and Eli (Paul Butler), both of whom look after her and the house. Aunt Ester, who, by her own admission is close to 300 years old, is well known throughout Pittsburgh for her ability to cleanse souls, effectively absolving the sinners of the sins they’ve committed. A young man named Citizen Barlow (Kenny Leon) comes to Aunt Ester to be absolved, and we also meet Solly Two Kings (Anthony Chisholm), a former member of the underground railroad, and devotee of Aunt Ester. There is unrest in the town due to the tyranny of the local Constable, Caesar (Peter Jay Fernandez), who thinks nothing of killing other black men that break the law even slightly.
Director Marion McClinton’s production is beautiful to watch and to listen to. His familiarlty with Wilson’s work is evident (he has directed productions of all of Wilson’s major plays). He paces this three-hour play well – it only feels long for short periods of Act One. David Gallo’s set design fills every inch of proscenium space in the Goodman’s Albert Theatre, and you get the impression that the weather-beaten nature of the house is a metaphor for the state of black life in Pittsburgh at the time. Constanza Romero’s costumes and Donald Holder’s lighting are the perfect compliment. Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen’s sound design provides the perfect atmosphere for the action.
The acting is very strong, and almost everyone has their moment of brilliance. As Aunt Ester, Greta Oglesby is perfectly wonderful. In her hands, Aunt Ester is the world-wise sage that she needs to be. Anthony Chisholm, as Solly Two Kings, is able to inject a good amount of humor into this lost soul, and Peter Jay Fernandez’s Caesar is the perfect villain, never wavering from his strong belief in his own rightness, even though most of his encounters end in violence.
It is only Kenny Leon, as Citizen Barlow, that stands out as a bad casting choice. He is just not in everyone else’s league, and in a cast this strong, that is very evident.
All in all, however, you would do well to catch this epic play before it hits Broadway (via Boston’s Huntington Theatre). I can’t wait for Wilson’s final 20th Century installment.
August Wilson’s 20th Century Cycle by decade:
1900s: The Gem of the Ocean
1910s: Joe Turner's Come and Gone
1920s: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
1930s: The Piano Lesson
1940s: Seven Guitars
1950s: Fences
1960s: Two Trains Running
1970s: Jitney
1980s: King Hedley II
