By Jay Whipple
Trend Magazine Online™
Trend Magazine Online™
Of the four plays that I have reviewed thus far from the 2013 National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, NC, last summer (2013); this was the most intriguing in terms of form. It was written and directed by Mr. Layon Gray and produced by his New York-based Layon Gray American Theatre Company which he founded just last May of 2013. This play was the company's inaugural production and centers on an alleged letter read by a Slave owner named Willie Lynch on the James River in the colony of Virginia in 1712. The subject of that letter was a method of teaching Slave owners to keep their Blacks divided for - some say - 300 years; however, the letter states for centuries to come. This play was a chronicle of three Black families that lived in the same house in 1925, 1965, and 2008, respectively. Their lives were explored through a door that served as a portal into the past and future of Blacks in America.
As a student of history who has developed several tours centered on Black history in the Charlotte and Greensboro, NC, areas; I made sure that this was an event that I would not miss. The venue for the play's eight-member cast was the Hanesbrand Theatre/Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts which is located within walking distance from the host Downtown Marriott Hotel. I arrived, on foot, at approximately 2:10 PM for the 3 PM matinee on Friday August 2, 2013, and because the bus was running behind schedule. I beat the bus and crowd there by well over 15 minutes. Upon observation I was once again impressed that there were white folks in the audience for this historic play. The doors were opened at approximately 2:30 PM to relieve the lobby which starting to get a bit crowded. This was the only venue that served concessions before, during intermission, and after the play. The theatre was very clean, neat, and quaint with one column of escalating seats and a mezzanine area upstairs. I sat center-stage on the third row because the first two were reserved for dignitaries and sponsors. The bottom floor was full; but I was not able to survey the upstairs area because I did not want to lose my prime seat.
The set consisted of one beige sofa, a coffee table, a rocking chair on stage right, a small round table with two chairs on stage left; a four-drawer dresser with lamp and coat rack, a door, a flower on stage right, and black steel stove on stage left. The play began at around 3:05 PM with the members of each of the families running through the house. The use of the "N" word was in play. The 2nd family (1965) took the stage in a scene whose period was three days after the assassination of Civil Rights Leader Malcolm Little ("X") with very good dialogue and fluid theatrical exchanges. The 3rd family (2008) then took the stage in a scene whose period was the day of the first election of President Barack H. Obama in November of that same year. The 1st family (1925) then took to the stage in a scene whose period was not made clear - at least not to this writer.
