REVIEW: ‘The Great Privation’ is about the past informing the present
Photo: The Great Privation stars, from left, Clarissa Vickerie and Crystal Lucas-Perry. Photo courtesy of Julieta Cervantes / Provided by Blake Zidell & Associates with permission.
NEW YORK — Late last year, Soho Rep., the legendary off-Broadway theater company, said goodbye to its space of many years in Downtown Manhattan. For many theatergoers, it was a difficult moment to witness. Gone were the chances of heading to the tiny Soho Rep. theater for some engaging, provocative works of art, but there was simultaneous hope on the horizon. Soho Rep. has now moved to the Playwrights Horizons upstairs space on 42nd Street, and the company’s inaugural production is a solid one: The Great Privation (How to flip ten cents into a dollar) by Nia Akilah Robinson.
The 100-minute work offers a portrait of a painful past and delves into how that past can inform the present. Audience members head to their general-admission seats (just like at the original Soho Rep.) and have a perfect view of a prominent tree that takes up most of the theatrical space. It stands above a stage made of plywood.
When the lights dim, a scene plays out in Philadelphia, circa the early 1800s, featuring a mother named Mrs. Freeman (Crystal Lucas-Perry from Broadway’s Ain’t No Mo’ and 1776) and her daughter named Charity (Clarissa Vickerie, in her off-Broadway debut). They are praying over the freshly dug gravesite of their loved one at the local African Baptist Church. What disrupts their tender moment is the entrance of John (Miles G. Jackson), who has come to unearth the body of this Black man and study it for scientific purposes in order to understand the ongoing cholera outbreak. Mrs. Freeman pushes back and refuses to let her family member become an experiment against his final wishes.
As the drama of this opening scene unfolds, a digital clock ticks away on the top of the stage, portending that time will soon skip. And skip it does. The play is then transported to the present. Lucas-Perry is now playing Minnie, mother to a different Charity (still Vickerie). They are camp counselors on the land where that gravesite was located. They are joined by Cuffee (Holiday), a head counselor, and John (still Jackson), a fellow leader of the young children in their care. The quartet is unaware that their camp is on hallowed ground, that is, until the past and present begin to collide.
Robinson’s play, expertly directed by Evren Odcikin, is powerful theater that not only tells a stirring story but also spotlights characters who are connected to the past, but are never quite sure of what this connection means. One can tell that Minnie and Charity, in the present day, feel something near this tree and this grave, but they are unsure what those feelings may mean. The double-casting is a superb idea because it helps the audience better understand and appreciate these narrative storylines.
Kudos to costume designer Kara Harmon, who subtly combines past and present through various wardrobe choices. By the end of this dizzying back and forth, one wonders if Minnie hasn’t traveled to the past, and Mrs. Freeman hasn’t traveled to the present. History, as presented in the play, repeats itself in some ways, and the sins of former generations clearly have reverberations on the actions of today.
Soho Rep. built a downtown reputation for presenting important work that stayed with audience members long after the final curtain call. The company’s move uptown hasn’t change its mission one iota, as evidenced by The Great Privation. The work, with beautifully poetic language by Robinson, instigates conversation and perpetual pondering. Are those ghosts rattling the boards of the ground? Why have Black bodies been used to supposedly advance scientific knowledge? Why can’t Mrs. Freeman and Charity have a moment’s rest as they mourn a family member? Why are Minnie and Charity paid so much less than their white counterpart, John? Why does the connection and gulf between mothers and daughters seemingly last a lifetime?
The Great Privation features solid performances from its cast, especially Lucas-Perry and Vickerie, who hardly leave the stage for the intermissionless work. The two actors, along with Holiday and Jackson, seamlessly transition between the two time periods with ease, sometimes within seconds. They adopt slightly different voices and embody different characters, but again they keep the channels between the generations open, allowing influence to seep in.
Robinson, who premiered this play at Theatre 503 in London, is definitely someone to watch in the theatrical space. Her ideas and perspectives are most welcome beneath the proscenium, and The Great Privation is one of the strongest plays of the spring season.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Great Privation (How to flip ten cents into a dollar), written by Nia Akilah Robinson and directed by Evren Odcikin, stars Crystal Lucas-Perry, Clarissa Vickerie, Holiday and Miles G. Jackson. The Soho Rep. production is currently running at Playwrights Horizons on 42nd Street in New York City. Running time: 100 minutes with no intermission. Click here for more information and tickets.
