By Rick A. Elina
The 1960s were a turbulent period in American History. Sydney Poitier came to dinner and Muhammad Ali explained why he had no quarrel with the Viet Cong. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their defiant fists in the air at the 1968 Summer Olympics and created a firestorm of controversy. Booed as they left the podium, Mr. Smith later said, “Black America will understand what we did tonight.” White America did not understand.
Within the first two minutes of The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson, racial prejudice and bigotry are ratcheted to a frenzied level of ugliness. Claudette (Joniece Abbott-Pratt) is beaten and arrested simply because her four-year-old daughter had to use the ‘Whites only’ restroom. Claudette’s arrest becomes the inciting incident that re-energizes the civil rights movement in 1963 Birmingham, Alabama. Ms. Abbott-Pratt portrays her character with such vulnerability that you fear she might be injured not necessarily from all of the rough handling, but most assuredly from the hail of racial epithets rained upon her. The Reverend James Sullivan (Billy Eugene Jones) sees the exemplary Claudette and her innocent child as the perfect embodiment of the movement. Reverend Sullivan also sees Claudette as a very beautiful woman. It’s refreshing that Ms. Wilson has written her characters with the most basic of flaws then fully exposes them for the audience to see. Claudette’s husband Pelzie (Francois Battiste) isn’t very supportive of her involvement with the movement or with Reverend Sullivan. Mr. Battiste gives his character an unvarnished, down-to-earth realism that adds a great deal of substance to what otherwise might be countrified simplicity. As it turns out, Pelzie is no simpleton.
The nine-member cast is well balanced and completely synchronized with each other as scenes morph from one to the other at a frenetic pace. Rutherford (LeRoy McClain) and Henry (J. Bernard Calloway) respectively offer Reverend Sullivan voices of reason and instinct. Mr. Calloway has perfect comedic pitch, enabling him to deliver humor to a very dramatic piece. Steve (Brian Wallace) and Paul (Steven Walters) play well off of each other as FBI agents bugging the homes and offices of the movement. Joe Nemmers as Rowe, the Klansman, gives an over the top performance that is absolutely chilling.
Lighting Designer Lap Chi Chu creatively added dimension to a very simple and utilitarian set. The sound design by Daniel Baker is a work of genius, easily transporting the audience from the serenity and comfort of a church to the tumultuous melee of a race riot.
With an historic election in mere days, The Good Negro offers a candid glance back across the barrier of time and confirms the hideous truth about two separate and unequal Americas.
Rick A. Elina is a playwright based in Plano, Texa,s and is the Theatre Critic for the North Dallas Gazette.
