That
idea is woven into the core of The Gospel
According to James by Charles Smith, now at Ensemble Theatre. This is an
adventurous and risk-taking piece, since it never provides the audience with an
agreed-upon set of facts. And while there are some intricately nuanced
performances on stage, slow pacing and excessive introspection veer the
production off the best possible path.
The
2½-hour experience centers on an actual lynching of two black men, Abe Smith
and Tommy Shipp, in Marion, Indiana in 1930. It is narrated by two people,
Marie and James, who end up discussing the event in 1980 with divergent
memories and wholly separate goals.
Marie
and James are back in Marion 50 years after the awful day and meet up, in either
a realistic or imaginary space, as you wish. Marie, who is white, is there to
attend to the funeral of her father, Hoot Ball, while James, who is
African-American and a survivor of the lynching, is there to drum up support
for a memorial to his two long-dead friends.
From
the start, Marie attacks James for his continued “lying” about the events of
that day. Back in the day, Marie was called Mary (portrayed by Katie Nabors), a
high-spirited young woman who cavorted with Abe and Tommy and the young and
naive James who at the time was called “Apples” (J’Vaughn T. Briscoe).
For
his part, James is calm and focused, trying to bring out Marie’s story while
disagreeing with her on many points. And he’s packing a metal ammunition box
filled with bits of historical evidence—a piece of the lynching rope, bark from
the tree—to use in his own version of an American Yad Vashem-style memorial to
lynching victims.
A
significant part of the play is told in those flashbacks, as we see gregarious Abe
(an intoxicatingly endearing Kyle Carthens) and Tommy (a slightly unstable but
quite amusing Antuane Rogers) fence with the white folks in town. Those
rednecks are represented by Keith E. Stevens, who struts and attacks like a
banty rooster as Claude.
Then
there’s Hoot and his wife Bea, played with snap and specificity by Tim Walsh
and Valerie Young. Indeed, these flashback scenes that lead to a murder and
then the lynching often ripple with genuine emotion and honesty.
Many
of the production’s weakness stem from the 1980 scenes, as Marie and James deal
with each other and their haunted memories. As the reluctant but still
passionate Marie, Anne McEvoy lends a much-needed accent of cynicism to the
proceedings.
But
Peter Lawson Jones, a fine actor, never seems entirely hooked into the arc of
the elderly James. He is hampered by the script, which often only gives James
lines that tell his story (“They made me feel ashamed.”) instead of showing it.
As
a result, these narrative sequences, which take place upstage on a platform,
feel divorced from the blood and sinew of what’s going on below them. And that
does not enhance the theatrical impact of the work.
Director
Celeste Cosentino is to be congratulated for taking on such a complex play, and
for helping to shape several fine performances. But by not staging the show in a
way that Marie and James can truly engage with each other and the audience in a
visceral manner, the interesting “history of memory” conflict that playwright
Smith sets up never comes to full fruition.
Still,
there are truths here about how we view history, and race, that deserve to be
seen.
The
Gospel According to James
Through
February 17 at Ensemble Theatre, 2843 Washington Blvd., Cleveland Hts.,
216-321-2930
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