A CurtainUp Berkshires Review: Spunk

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A CurtainUp Berkshires Review:
Spunk

Keith Johnston/Guitar Man; Sheyvonne Wright/Blues Speak Woman

How do you git to the git?
With some blues n' some grit,
some pain, some spit
n' some SPUNK
--Sheyvonne Wright, the Blues Speak Woman
(note: to "git to the git" is to get to the heart)

The play is an anthology of Zora Neale Hurston folk tales narrated and acted out by the characters and the Guitar Man and Blues Speak Woman who transform the tales into a mini-musical. While "Spunk" (an actual story) is not part of this trio of tales, this blend of story telling and the blues makes for a spunky visually delightful two hours.

Director Rob Ruggiero has stayed true to George C. Wolfe's 1990 adaptation and the guitar, originally played by composer Chic Street Man, is in good hands with Keith Johnson as the Guitar Man. His musical partner, Sheyvonne Wright, has the requisite belting power to do justice to the Blues Speak Woman.

As the music frames the stories, so the two marital tales -- "Sweat" about a long-suffering washerwoman who finally gives her abusive husband his comeuppance and "The Gilded Six-Bits" about a tender loving husband who must learn to forgive the young wife who betrayed him -- frame "Story in Harlem Slang, a comic sendup of some Harlem Hustlers. Some viewers may misinterpret these stories, especially the vaudeville-like middle piece, as stereotypical. This is no more true than any remounting of a story about people from a particular culture or place. Thurston lovingly collected and reproduced the language and rhythms of black people and the resurgence of interest in her work is a recognition of her intent.

The tales are inventively dramatized by having the six actors float back and forth as narrators, chorus and characters while retaining the dialogue of the written source. And yet, despite the innovative staging and a luminous performance by Lisa Renée Pitts as Delia and Missie Mae, these tales lack the lasting resonance they have when read.

Hurston's fidelity to the characters shines on the page but when staged, no matter how cleverly, these pieces are a bit thin as plays and thus easily overwhelmed by that clever stagecraft. This seems particularly true when considered in tandem with the Williamstown Theatre revival of A Raisin In the Sun. That play's power is such that the attempt to modernize and entertain with the addition of gospel music interspersed proved unnecessary and intrusive. Spunk, on the other hand, needs the music and singing.

The production values are top of the line. Michael Schweikardt' simple scenic design is highly effective and most effectively lit by Jeff Croiter. I especially liked the white curtains rippling down dramatically and briefly used for a bit of shadow play. Laurie Churba's costumes are spot-on, as are the outrageous zoot suits designed by Karen Perry for the Hartford Stage production and now lent to Barrington Stage.

Spunk was not the first tribute to Zora Neale Hurston, the writer-anthropologist who was part of the fabled Harlem Renaissance but fell out of favor as a result of her controversial anti-integration stance and personal difficulties. Her work, long out of print, is once again widely available. On stage, there was Lincoln Center's production of Mule Bone the play she wrote with Langston Hughes and this past season her biography,Zora Neale Hurston, and the partially biographical Everybody's Ruby. None of these works were flawless but until the perfect play by or about Hurston comes along, all are worth seeing with Spunk ranking as the most colorful.

LINKS
Reviews of plays mentioned:
A Raisin in the Sun
Zora Neale Hurston
Everybody's Ruby
For further reading:
Spunk : Three Tales by Zora Neale Hurston, George C. Wolfe. These are the three tales as dramatized by Wolfe.
Spunk: The Selected Stories of Zora Neale Hurston by Zora Neale Hurston, edited by Bob Callahan (not the dramatization)
Terrible Honesty: Mongrel Manhattan in the 1920s --Ann Douglas chronicled many of the leading lights of the famous Harlem Rennaisance which of course includes Zora Neal Hurston and Langston Hughes. paperback edition
Hurston's most famous work Mules and Men is also available as a paperback

SPUNK:
Three Tales by Zora Neale Hurston Adapted by George C. Wolfe
Diected byRob Ruggiero
Music by Chic Street Man

Cast
Dyron Holmes/ Man on Joe Clark's Porch, Jelly, Ensemble
Keith Johnston/ Guitar Man
Lisa Renee Pitts/ Delia, Girl, Missie May, Ensemble
Godfrey L. Simmons Jr./ Man on Joe Clark's Porch, Slang Talk Man, Joe, Ensemble
Dathan B. Williams/ Sykes, Sweet Back, Ensemble
Sheyvonne Wright/ Blues Speak Woman

Scenic Design: Michael Schweikardt
Costume Design: Laurie Churba
Lighting Design: Jeff Croiter
Choreographer: Tanya-Gibson Clark
Originally Developed at the Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, California
Originally Produced at Crossroads Theatre Company, New Brunswick, New Jersey Original New York Production by New York Shakespeare Festival, Running Time 2 hours and 5 minutes, including one fifteen minute intermission
Barrington Stage at Consolati Performing Arts Center in Sheffield (413/ 528-8888)
7/21/99-8/08/99 Reviewed byElyse Sommer based on 8/25 performance

E-mail questions and feedback to:

esommer@pipeline.com