The Roundhouse Theatre/Olney Theatre Center co-production of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is, by turns, harrowing and heartwarming. But whatever way you look at it, it’s a smashing success. All aspects of the production are seamlessly rooted in and propelled by August Wilson’s poetic script. It’s one of those productions that, years from now, audiences will still talk about having been privileged to see.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is the only play in Wilson’s monumental 10-play American Century Cycle that takes place in Chicago. The occasion is one of the legendary blues singer’s recording sessions.
Things are tense from the start. While Ma’s bandleader, Cutler, has managed to get the core of the band together, Ma herself is late as is the ambitious, young trumpeter Levee she’s thinking about firing. Meanwhile, record producer Sturdyvant is drilling talent manager Irvin about why he’s not able to keep things together as he promised. This is the stuff of a great comedy. And indeed, the play is filled with honest, robust laughter.
But Wilson is also interested in how that laughter was maintained in the face of the unrelenting dehumanization his characters face as a result of the racial apartheid and the predatory capitalism as it existed then.
From the moment you enter the theater, you are confronted with Scenic Designer Arnel Sancianco’s set that gives these intertwined systems clear, concrete expression.
In music producer Sturdyvant’s realm, Sancianco builds an elevated, wood-framed, glassed-in office/tower from which he oversees all the action and controls the recording process. Ma Rainey and her entourage (her stuttering nephew Sylvester and her girlfriend Dussie Mae) are placed below Sturdyvant on a mid-level floor along with the microphones and piano. The Black male musicians (Cutler, Toledo, Slow Drag and Levee) are in the basement. Irvin, Ma Rainey’s manager, runs between all three of these levels and, when necessary, to the local deli to procure Coca Colas and sandwiches.
Irvin reminds indifferent Sturdyvant that record buyers call Ma Rainey the “Mother of the Blues.” Ma Rainey’s interpretations of the blues acknowledges the pressures that people are living under. They are a source of occasional comfort and joy for her audiences. That characteristic of the music is part of what makes these blues marketable. But it turns out that marketability is not always enough to prevent tragedy.
The production boasts a powerhouse ensemble cast, each of whom has at least one moment where they hit the ball out of the park. But Nicole Michelle Haskins as Ma Rainey is a wonder to watch. Ms. Haskins allows Ms. Rainey to inhabit her performance. Ms. Haskins’ unapologetic cultural precision, specificity and nuance within the language will produce laughter and a shock of recognition for those who have been raised in the culture that Ma Rainey hails from. And for those who did not grow up in that culture the unshakeable integrity of the character that Ms. Haskins establishes will be felt.
While the opening scene efficiently established the premise of the play, it felt a little distant, as though the actors were play-acting the craftiness of the roles rather than fully committing to it.
However, it is clear that director Lili-Anne Brown understands the music in August Wilson’s dialog and has created an atmosphere that allows her actors to confidently convey that music in such a way that the rest of the production sings.
Gregory Ford is the Anacostia Coordinating Council Arts & Culture Critic. He is also an actor and singer. He is a member of Verbal Gymnastics Playback Theater troupe. He has written for Capital Community News and continues to write for dctheaterarts.org, focusing on College and University Theater Productions. He is a clinical psychodrama practitioner. Mr. Ford lives in Northeast Boundary in Ward 7.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom running time: approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission.
