{"id":245827,"date":"2013-02-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/never-let-their-stories-go\/"},"modified":"2013-02-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-15T08:00:00","slug":"never-let-their-stories-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/never-let-their-stories-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Never let their stories go"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>Meticulous, splendid production is best yet; to miss is to err<\/p>\n

Por Charlene Baldridge | Cr\u00edtico de Teatro SDUN<\/p>\n

Like most of August Wilson\u2019s plays, \u201cGem of the Ocean\u201d (playing at Cygnet Theatre Old Town through February 24) leaves one awestruck over the late playwright\u2019s abilities and suffering of extreme separation anxiety.<\/p>\n

\"Never
(l to r) Laurence Brown (foreground), Antonio “TJ” Johnson, Melva Graham and Brenda Phillips (Photo by Daren Scott)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How can one possibly re-enter the real world after living with Wilson\u2019s vivid creatures for a while? How can one possibly hold forever the memory of the words, the extraordinary ensemble, the music, and debuting director Victor Mack\u2019s meticulous staging upon Andrew Hull\u2019s splendid set?<\/p>\n

This particular play \u2013 Wilson wrote one for each decade of the African-American experience in 20th-century America \u2013 is set in 1904 in Pittsburgh\u2019s Hill District. The action revolves around a lost man named Citizen Barlow (Laurence Brown), who comes to see Aunt Ester after having been told that she can wash his sou.<\/p>\n

Aunt Ester (resplendent Brenda Phillips) is a legendary seer and healer whose presence, seen or unseen, hovers over Wilson\u2019s plays. Three hundred-some years old, Aunt Ester is attended by her longtime friend Eli (Grandison M. Phelps III) and a young woman called Black Mary (Melva Graham), who is the abused sister of Caesar Wilkes (Mujahid Abdul-Rashid), the district\u2019s over-zealous lawman. Mary always has something on the stove for residents and frequent visitors to the household, including Solly Two Kings (Antonio \u201cTJ\u201d Johnson) and Rutherford Selig (Ron Choularton), an itinerant household goods vendor.<\/p>\n

The plot points are simple: an employee accused of stealing a bag of nails from the local metal plant has walked into the river and drowned. Having been told he can\u2019t see her until Tuesday, Citizen Barlow breaks into Aunt Ester\u2019s house. She welcomes him, sensing his extreme need and takes him on a spiritual voyage to the City of Bones aboard the ship, Gem of the Ocean. Solly receives a letter from his sister, in straitened circumstances in Alabama, and, despite age and infirmity, resolves to make the trek on foot to bring her north.<\/p>\n

The characters are so well written and so fully inhabited by this amazing ensemble that one is loath to let them and their stories go. Black History Month is rich this year, offering playgoers multiple, excellent choices. To miss \u201cGem of the Ocean\u201d would be to err egregiously. It\u2019s the best production seen hereabouts since The Globe\u2019s \u201cAugust: Osage County.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonard Patton\u2019s vocal arrangements \u2013 there is a lot of singing \u2013 are mesmerizing. Kevin Anthenill\u2019s original music and sound design are as if part of the play\u2019s warp and woof. Hats are important in Shelly Williams\u2019 period costume design. Chris Rynne\u2019s lighting is impeccable, giving one a feel for locale and season.<\/p>\n

Whether Solly Two Kings\u2019 staff, magnificently wrought by Angelica Ynfante, is weapon, walking stick or something more, is in the eye of the beholder. Peter Herman is wig and makeup designer, and fight choreography is in the capable hands of George Y\u00e9.<\/p>\n

\u2018Gem of the Ocean\u2019<\/strong>
\nWHERE: Cygnet Theatre, 4040 Twiggs St. (Old Town)<\/strong>
\nWHEN: Wed. \u2013 Thurs. at 7:30 p.m., Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 3 and 8 p.m., and Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. through Feb. 24<\/strong>
\nINFO: 619-337-1525<\/strong>
\nWEB: cygnettheatre.com<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meticulous, splendid production is best yet; to miss is to err By Charlene Baldridge | SDUN Theater Critic Like most of August Wilson\u2019s plays, \u201cGem of the Ocean\u201d (playing at Cygnet Theatre Old Town through February 24) leaves one awestruck over the late playwright\u2019s abilities and suffering of extreme separation anxiety.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Never let their stories go","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11551,11550,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-news","category-top-stories","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}