Smith) and a stoic housekeeper named Black Mary (Sydney Charles), who is prone to a few well-timed and well-received Act II outbursts. She’s looked after and protected by caregiver, Eli (A.C.
Hers is the moral compass that doesn’t always point due north, but has a lasting impact on all who come within her contact. A powerful knocking at the door comes from an anguished Citizen Barlow (Sharif Atkins), who is desperately trying to get a meeting with the mysterious Aunt Ester (Lisa Gaye Dixon) a sage/conjurer/witch doctor of a character with the reputation and perceived ability to “wash men’s souls of their burdens” (the wise women is also rumored to be 285 years old). The world was full of harsh realities in the post slavery years, the South desperately holding on to its racial divides, the North not as welcoming as promised. The action is set in the Hill District living room of 1839 Wylie Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Director Chuck Smith expertly wove the threads of Wilson’s words and a remarkable ensemble of actors into a winning tapestry of redemption, revelation and heartbreak. Be forewarned, being an August Wilson play, there was some raw language, but for those familiar with his work, that’s to be expected. This timeline included Gem of the Ocean (1904), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (the roaring twenties), Fences (1957), Two Trains Running (the turbulent sixties) and King Headley II unfolding (1985). Of note, the Goodman Theatre has produced all 10 works in Wilson’s “Century Cycle,” a series of interconnected plays (two of which became Pulitzer Prize winners) chronicling the Black experience in America by decades. He championed Black performers, speaking in Black voices, produced by Black creative teams and leading that cherished philosophy to both creative and commercial success. For those not in the know, August Wilson was a Pittsburgh-born playwright who outspokenly understood the importance of race in artistry decades before it became in vogue. Ocean marked the first time in the theatre’s history that the Goodman has revisited one of Wilson’s works that had previously premiered there. Traditionally, china is the anniversary present symbolizing “the beautiful and delicate balance of love over the past twenty years.” Here, Wilson’s words are the gift that kept on giving. Originally staged back in 2003, what a wonderful twentieth year celebration offering this is.
For a three-hour-plus play, there wasn’t a wasted second. The Goodman Theatre is revisiting a thoroughly engaging production of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean. What a wonderful way to kick off Black History Month in the Windy City.
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