The blog is going away but the reviews are not. You can find them here in the online print edition.
Home > ATLarts > Archives > 2008 > July > 17 > Entry
NBAF theater: ‘Hallelujah Street Blues’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW. Grade: B
Who wouldn’t want Josephine for a neighbor? She’ll make you a sandwich, offer you iced tea and listen to your fears about the steady creep of gentrification — you know, moving the old folks out so younger folks, who’ll pay more, can move in.
As drawn by Atlanta playwright Valetta Anderson and embodied by the ideal Veronica Redd in the world premiere of “Hallelujah Street Blues” at Horizon Theatre, Josephine, aka Josie, is a touchstone.
She’s a family matriarch trying to live on her own terms despite the loving interference of family. She’s a cagey old soul, an insulin-dependent diabetic who sneaks Pop-Tarts, who talks to her late husband amid the trees he planted decades ago, who uses her cane only to ward off unwanted assistance, and who sees almost everything going on around her — that the marriage of her know-it-all daughter is in trouble, that world-weary son Nathan has her best interests in mind, that her slick lawyer son-in-law does indeed have a heart, and that everyone has an agenda.
Redd gives Josie a gimpy walk and perfect timing, whether she’s punctuating a punch line with the flip of a hip or raising an eyebrow to comment on the craziness around her.
Horizon describes this comic drama, developed over two years in its New South Play Festival and directed by Thomas W. Jones II, as “‘Soul Food’ meets ‘The Waltons’,” but it’s more than that. It’s saucier than “The Waltons” and more genuine than “Soul Food.”
Anderson draws real people — flawed, funny, wily and lovable in all their imperfect ways — and gives them real conversations to dig into. “You help me with my home problem,” Nathan says to brother-in-law Carter, referring to a dispute over property lines, “and I’ll help you take your problem home.” Carter’s problem is wife Clarice (Keena Redding Hunt, a bit too one-note as a pouty woman-child).
Neighbor lady Dottie, aka Dorothy (the tiny yet mighty Deborah Callaway Duke), may not be as crazy as she seems. Although we never actually see Shadow, her ever-errant dog, you just never know. Is she senile or playing a calculated game? If you know any of August Wilson’s offbeat creations (Stool Pigeon in “King Hedley II” comes to mind), you’ll know the line she walks so delicately and well.
The family house (inventively designed by Jeffrey Weber) would fit nicely in any older Atlanta neighborhood. Its brick facade is tidy, its back porch clean and comfy, its pathways clear, its shrubbery trimmed. It even has a screen door that slaps closed like an open hand on a pesky mosquito. Only when lights come up behind the brick do we realize it’s a scrim, letting us see action both inside and out. The shrubbery and paths, suggested by paint on the floor, lead into the audience and to projections of Granddad’s crabapple trees, (lights by Andrew D. Smith).
Unfortunately, the men, especially Taurean Blacque as Nathan, stumble on too many lines. And the storytelling loses its crispness in the final half-hour, despite a nice touch of mysticism. “Hallelujah” does not solve its gentrification problem, happily, although every character is able to redefine “home.” What lives past the curtain call is the feeling of family and one clear-eyed woman’s eternal wisdom.
“Women in this family marry their daddies,” Josie tells Clarice, “and live happily ever after with broken hearts.”
That simple but profound observation says everything about Anderson’s story, and the people who deliver it.
THE 411: 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 8:30 p.m. Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday; and 3 p.m. July 19 and 26, Aug. 9 and 16. $20, $22 and $25. Horizon Theatre, in partnership with the National Black Arts Festival. 1083 Austin Ave. N.E. at Euclid Avenue, Little Five Points. 404-584-7450, www.horizon theatre.com
Bottom line: Neighborhood beauty.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Theater
Comments
By Sinae
July 24, 2008 5:04 AM | Link to this
The reviewer mentioned that Taurean Blaque stumbles on too many lines. Does he know that Taurean recently had a stroke and is still recovering. Go a little easy on the man. It’s a blessing that he can still perform - period.