INTERVIEW: Lynn Nottage play from the ’90s revived at Keen Company
Photo: From left, Malika Samuel, Jason Bowen and Shanel Bailey star in Crumbs From the Table of Joy. Photo courtesy of Julieta Cervantes / Provided by Everyman Agency with permission.
Keen Company, now in its 23rd season, has returned with a rare revival of Lynn Nottage’s Crumbs From the Table of Joy, a play that was first produced in the mid-1990s and was the award-winning playwright’s professional debut, according to press notes. Performances of the production, directed by Colette Robert, continue through April 1 at Theatre Row in Midtown Manhattan.
The show, set in the 1950s, follows teenager Ernestine Crump after the death of her mother. Family issues are further complicated when the Crumps relocate to a Brooklyn neighborhood that proves unwelcoming to the family. Bringing this story to life are cast members Shanel Bailey (The Book of Mormon), Jason Bowen (The Play That Goes Wrong), Sharina Martin (The Piano Lesson), Natalia Payne (Fairview) and Malika Samuel (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Once on This Island), according to an official news release.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Robert, who has directed everything from The Wanderers at City Theatre Company to Weathering at the Penumbra Theatre. Other companies she has worked with include Salt Lake Acting Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Page 73 and PlayMakers Rep, among others. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
How did you feel when you were asked to direct this play?
I was thrilled! I had actually just read Crumbs From the Table of Joy for the first time a few months before, after a couple of friends separately told me how much they loved the play. When I read it, I fell in love with the characters and the world and how Lynn Nottage plays with time in such a magical way.
What do you think the play has to say in 2023?
It’s so incredibly relevant to this moment in time. Crumbs From the Table of Joy explores grief and the political awakening of a young teenager. It’s set in Brooklyn in 1950, but on a heart level, it really speaks to what many Americans experienced over the past three years. And even though there is heartbreak in this play, there is also a tremendous amount of hope and humor, two things we could all use right now.
What do you find unique about Lynn Nottage’s writing?
I think there is so much compassion in all of Lynn’s work. It really lets you meet and experience each character “where they are.” And so instead of judging this or that choice, she lets you understand and empathize with the characters on a profoundly deep level.
What’s it like working with this ensemble of actors?
This. Ensemble! They are all incredible. They are all the kind of actors where, as a director, my job is mostly to just get out of the way and let them be brilliant! They are all really smart and hardworking, and they make wonderful choices.
When did you realize you wanted to be a director?
I started directing in high school! I took a scene study class when I was 16, and in the class, everyone had to direct at least once. My teacher described what a director did, and I was intrigued. I volunteered to direct a scene from Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing, and from that moment on, I was hooked.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Crumbs From the Table of Joy, produced by Keen Company and directed by Colette Robert, continues through April 1 at Theatre Row in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
