Jamar Gilbert and CJ Obilom in Gerald C. Rivers and Jamar Gilbert in MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM. [Photo by Craig Schwartz]
For the past seven years ANW has become home to Wilson’s American Century Cycle, a landmark 10-play series depicting African American life across each decade of the 20th century. The seventh play in the cycle, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” continues through Sept. 20, and offers attendees the entertaining bonus of featuring some electrifying blues music alongside Wilson’s colorful writing style.
Set during a 1927 recording session in Chicago, the play is centered upon an afternoon recording session with real-life blues legend Gertrude “Ma” Rainey as she engages in volatile clashes over race, art, power and ownership with white producers attempting to control her life and career. Meanwhile, her ambitious trumpeter Levee dreams of a future beyond the band, with these intertwining stories leading to a devastating finale that asks the question: Who gets to decide whose voice matters?
“This is my seventh production in the cycle, and the audience has really embraced the work of Wilson and the demand for it has grown with each play,” says Cycle director Gregg T. Daniel. “They can’t wait to hear what’s always coming next, so I’m very pleased. We didn’t set out to do the entire cycle, but it grew into that from the audience’s interest.
“Some subscribers volunteered to help fund all 10 plays, which is pretty remarkable. This is a mid-size theater, not the Taper or the Pasadena Playhouse. It’s not the Globe, it’s 330 seats. So for a company this size to take on the entire 10 piece cycle, I think it’s pretty audacious, and I’m proud of [ANW founders] Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott for doing it.”
Daniel notes that there’s more than meets the eye and ear in “Bottom,” as the play “is also a backdrop to what America’s about,” reflecting the political, racial and financial tensions roiling the nation during the 1920s.
“One of the reasons I love period pieces is that they remind us of our history. Americans don’t tend to value their history, and these Wilson plays offer a way to look back,” explains Daniel. “You’re looking at a group of people and how it impacted them, but you’re also looking at America and possibly how America’s grown from that time.
“It’s about the larger theme of appropriation of certain cultures. I started out by saying America’s always done well by the Black artist, whether it be in music or dance or whatever, but has never appreciated the Brown and Black bodies that produce that work. We want the art, we value the art, but somehow the artist is not valued. This is about the Black voice, but who owns it? How do these artists retain their dignity?”
“Bottom” features two full song performances and snippets of others, but Daniel points out that Wilson also has a “musical cadence and fluidity” in his dialogue that is akin to Shakespeare’s use of iambic pentameter and should also be pleasing to attendees. He looks forward to hearing what audiences think of this poetic style, as he has enjoyed hearing
their stories of how Wilson’s prior plays mirrored the lives of their families.
“Over the years, people come up to me after the show and say ‘that was just like my dad,’ or how it was just like anywhere else in the country besides Pittsburgh, where the rest of the plays are set,” says Daniel. “It’s amazing how many people relate to the characters. You don’t have to be a person of color to understand certain things that come from growing up in America.
“It’s a universality in terms of the struggle of people to want to do better, to give their children a better chance to succeed, to be giving them the green light, although in African Americans’ case it’s a double-edged sword. But it’s a celebration of that as well. So I think they definitely will enjoy it.”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” runs through Sunday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena. For more call (626) 356-3121 or visit anoisewithin.org. Tickets start at $41.75, including fees; student tickets start at $20.
