Lynn Nottage won the Pulitzer prize for this play, largely I suspect because of the power of the material and the opportunity it provides for great actors to demonstrate their talents. The play still needs work - it is longer than it needs to be and has at least one scene that is unnecessary. Playing with the parott adds mothing - Kill the Parrot!
But this production was excellent- a very powerful cast kept the audience fully engaged. Yanna McIntosh as Mama Nadi was brilliant. She did not miss a step and managed to be tough, funny, sarcastic and vulnerable and always totally believable.
the rest of the cast were also strong. Sterling Jarvis as Christian was a perfect foil for McIntosh. Sophia Walker as Sophia gave a literally show stopping performance - her speech about what happened to her and her baby was so powerful and so powerfully delivered that the audience clapped spontaneously - probably because the only possible other reaction was to burst into tears.
Performances trump play certainly in this case. The play does need work and I agree: if you introduce a parrot in the first act, it has to say or do something in the second. The material is powerful, uncomfortable and important; but that doesn't alter the fact the play itself still needs work.
ReplyDeleteI have not always been comfortable with McIntosh's performances, but I have no problems here - she was excellent.
I also agree about Sophia Walker (Salima, not Sophia I think - but I may have got her character and Sabryn Rock's names confused). In any case, we agree on the speech; we appear to have seen her in lots of shows, but I only remember he in Harlem Duet - but I'll certainly remember her here.
I also think Marci T. House's "Josephine" deserves to be remarked on - not as sympathetic character as Sophie or Salima, but important to the play and well brought to life here.