Every time she readies to grace the stage, veteran actress Velma Austin whispers a prayer to herself.
“First, I ask to let the words flow out of my mouth as if they are my own,” she said with a laugh.
Her eyes quickly transitioned to convey a deep intensity as she shared the second request of her preshow prayer ritual.
“And then the next thing I ask is, ‘Please Lord, let me be able to touch someone tonight,’” Austin said. “It’s in this that I take my craft very seriously. Maybe I can give someone a laugh to lift their spirits. Or somebody is moved to a good cry that they needed – but were unable to let out.”
The Jamaican-born, Chicago based actress embodies the character of Faye in the St. Louis Black Repertory Company’s current production of Dominique Morisseau’s Tony Award-winning play Skeleton Crew. The play runs through April 16 at COCA’s Berges Theatre as part of the Black Rep’s 46th season.
All who see her will agree that it is safe to assume that her prayer will be answered for the duration of the play’s run. The power and familiarity of Morisseau’s words make them easy for Austin to remember and articulate. And the performance of Austin –who has a 20-plus year history with The Black Rep – makes the story impossible to forget.
“The greatest thing is to have these Black writers – these black women writers- give you something that you can lift off of the page,” Austin said. “I mean, you just can’t go wrong with that. Doing plays that are written for us and by us is a whole different ballgame. It makes you want to honor the piece.”
With Geovonday Jones making his Black Rep mainstage directorial debut, the play also stars Olajuwon Davis as Dez, Carmia Imani as Shanita and Brian McKinley as Reggie.
Austin’s Faye is the glue that bonds coworkers operating as chosen family while grappling with the fragility of looming uncertain futures. She is the makeshift matriarch within a team of automobile assembly plant workers in Detroit. Push has come to shove for them – and many others – amid the 2008 economic crisis. The “good jobs” at plants and mills that sustained a robust portion of the Black middle class for generations are now anything but a sure thing. With the industry on the brink of collapse, Skeleton Crew explores the realities of clocking in while knowing that the next clock out could possibly be their last.
“We show people a glimpse of themselves – every character on that stage is a part of who we are,” Austin said.
According to Austin, Morisseau uses the tribulations of her hometown to demonstrate Black people’s fortitude, iron will and resilience by any means necessary.
“She wanted to show how we survived – that we are survivors,” Austin said. “When it all collapses, who gets the brunt of it? We do. And who survives? We do. This play shows how it fell apart – how Black people got the brunt of it – and did our best to hold ourselves together.
“We don’t take the weight and just bury ourselves,” Austin said.
Faye is the personification of survival. Through Austin’s portrayal of her, audiences will identify many of the layers that coincide with survival mechanisms Black people rely on to make it through the worst of times.
“I really wanted people to see who Faye is – and that she’s not just this big tough woman up there,” Austin said. “I wanted them to actually see her. She had to live hard, but it didn’t harden her heart. It made her tough, but she wasn’t emotionally stifled.”
Even in her darkest moments, audiences can find the best of Black women within Faye. She laughs to keep from crying. She loves harder in response to loss and disappointment – and makes the best of a tough situation. She accepts responsibility for the sum of her choices and works to regroup in real time. She sacrifices for the generation coming behind her. She assumes the position as the backbone of her circle without complaint – and they are better for it.
“I want people to see hardworking people who loved and cared about each other – regardless of what their issues are,” Austin said of Skeleton Crew. “And that as Black people, it doesn’t matter what hits us – like a ton of bricks. Somehow, we manage to move the bricks to the side – or balance them on our backs – and keep on walking. That is how we are built.”
The Black Rep’s presentation of Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew continues through April 16 at COCA’s Catherine B. Berges Theatre, 6800 Washington Ave, 63130. For tickets and/or additional information, visit www.theblackrep.org or call (314) 534-3807.
