Late playwright/author/poet Ntozake Shange famously illustrated the plight of the black woman with her seminal award-winning choreo-poem, “for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf.”
Though conceived and originally produced in the early 1970s, “For Colored Girls” is among the classics within the canon of black theater and still regularly produced regionally, nationally and internationally nearly 50 years after Shange gave the world an intimate, explicit and transformative vantage point of the black woman’s perspective.
Her lesser known play, “Spell #7” has parallels to “For Colored Girls.” The play pays homage to Shange’s St. Louis roots. It also creates space for expression of a marginalized group: the black performance artist.
The Black Rep, which has presented Shange’s “For Colored Girls” before three generations of audiences, introduces “Spell #7” to its audience as part of its 43rd season.
Shange didn’t quite recapture the magic of her most famous work – mainly because the show feels more dated, rather than drawing audiences into a moment in time and connecting them with the era. But the intention – and central theme of showing the high cost of committing oneself to his or her talent and art – is compelling enough to carry the elements of “Spell #7” that aren’t necessarily timeless. The Black Rep’s production certainly makes the most of the material with a strong production team and a talented ensemble of actors. So much so that the production – originally slated to end on Sunday, March 8 – has been extended for another week due to popular demand.
A bar in 1970s St. Louis is where a group of talented performers go to exhale. Making a life through their talents isn’t necessarily earning them a living. Gigs are few and far between, and plenty of times come with the heavy toll of playing into stereotypes to subsidize their careers. Though art enriches the lives of those who experience its many forms beyond measure, those who deliver it to the people often starve – figuratively and literally – because, aside from the minute percentage that achieve fame and fortune, artists en masse are perpetually devalued.
Black artists suffer through this phenomenon ten-fold. Though the influence of black art has shaped American and global culture, the black artist is often taken advantage of financially and emotionally and reduced to the lowest common denominator both in their humanity and their talents despite their contributions.
Through “Spell #7,” director Ron Himes and his cast give an intimate portrait of the highs and lows that are par for the course with a life fully committed to performance art. And they are doing so at a time when earning a living on stage, film and television is rarely more than peppering a white narrative as comic relief, subservient, hypersexualized or the criminal element. And yet they persisted – as much to move the needle towards the depiction of African Americans as fully humans with their own experience as for the sake of showcasing their talent.
The cast of “Spell #7” deserves a nod for their ability to weave song and dance around Shange’s complex monologues that include a mouthful of words that would trip up lesser skilled performers. Tyler White particularly shines as a triple-threat actor/dancer/singer. But each ensemble member – Drummond Crenshaw, Robert Crenshaw, Marki Michelle, Tef Poe, Camille Sharp, Jacqueline Thompson and Christina Yancy – gets the opportunity to show their chops. Poe, a national recording artist and veteran of the St. Louis rap scene, made his stage debut in the role of bar owner and poet Eli. His monologue about being fully committed to his poetry speaks to the central theme of Shange’s play, which at times gets convoluted with the side narratives that blur the lines between performance and reality in an effort to provide depth and insight with respect to the talent of the characters.
The production team behind “Spell #7” masterfully lend to the story and experience. Set designer Dunsi Dai and choreographer Heather Beal made magic happen (all pun intended) with how they applied their skills to such a limited space. Dai’s meticulously designed set made use of the space from floor to ceiling – and sits on a downward pointing angle that makes the performance space seem twice as large. And Beal wove in movement, with complex spins, twists and other combinations that require considerably more space without leaving the audience feeling as if the performers were fighting for room or tripping over one another. Sound designer James Biko gives the audience a groove reflective of the time and costumer designer Brandin Vaughn seemed particularly in tune with giving each character a personal style that was an extension of their voice within the play.
The Black Rep’s production of Ntozake Shange’s “Spell #7” continues through Sunday, March 15 at the A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre inside the Edison Theatre on the campus of Washington University, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. For tickets or additional information, call (314) 534-3807 or visit www.theblackrep.org.
