If you live in the Washington area and haven’t heard by now that the late August Wilson wrote a series of 10 plays chronicling the black experience in America for each decade of the 20th century, then you should probably also learn that Britney shaved her head bald and they now have these newfangled automobiles running around on french-fry grease.
If you haven’t been living in the shadow of a large and sheltering stone fixture, then you know that our national capital area is a sizzling hotbed for Wilson’s work, and the latest episode presented here is the ninth contribution to his ambitious cycle, 2004’s “Gem of the Ocean.”
An exhausting examination of the African-American community in the wake of the abolition of slavery, “Gem of the Ocean” is chronologically the first of Wilson’s plays, set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1904. It is a rich touchstone for the remainder of Wilson’s canon, with his familiar themes of how generations learn to cope with the aftermath of such a violent introduction to a new world and the diverse attitudes within a shared heritage.
Here, the legacy of freedom is explored through haunting images of the Middle Passage, the bloody battles of the Civil War and inspiring journeys on the Underground Railroad.
Paulette Randall’s steady production hums along through Wilson’s sprawling scenes with the assured conviction of a confident Wilson scholar. If you can makeit past the slow exposition and lengthy speeches of the first act — and you can overlook Scott Bradley’s awkward Fichandler setting — then your perseverance pays off in the rousing second half of Wilson’s rewarding drama, due in no small part to Randall’s polished cast.
“The people say go see Aunt Ester and get your soul washed,” declares a repentant Citizen Barlow (Jimonn Cole), and the peaceful inhabitants of 1839 Wiley Avenue offer sanctuary for weary, burdened souls. Lynnie Godfrey seems a bit young for Wilson’s spirited matriarch, but her seasoned vibrato is a powerful conductor of supernatural healing as she baptizes her reticent pupil through the rolling waves underneath the hull of a trans-Atlantic slave ship.
Both LeLand Gantt and Pascale Armand offer compelling portrayals as a brother and sister who side on opposite ends of the law, but the real gem of Arena Stage’s “Ocean” is Solly Two Kings, a former slave and brave Union soldier.
The spark of life and the poignancy of death lies in the majestic work of Joseph Marcell, an accomplished stage actor best known to television fans as Geoffrey, the Banks family’s butler on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Marcell delivers a nuanced, touching performance as Wilson’s unlikely victor.
In an evening that sails through time and space from a busy Pennsylvanian parlor to a mythical city of bones, Wilson’s “Ocean” is an emotional heavyweight that anchors the successive plays in the pioneering playwright’s expansive fantasia.
‘Gem of the Ocean’
By August Wilson
Through March 18
Director: Paulette Randall
Venue: Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth Street SW, Washington
Tickets: $46 to $66
Performances: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays (6:00 p.m. curtain March 18); 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. matinee Saturdays and Sundays; noon matinee March 14
Info: Call 202-488-3300 or visit www.arenastage.org
