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| Melanie Cruz and Ben Guillory - Photo Matthew Leland |
By Joe Straw
The Robey Theatre Company, in association with the Los Angeles Theatre
Company, presents the west coast premiere of Dr. Du Bois and Miss Ovington by
Clare Coss and Directed by Ben Guillory.
Walking into the theatre, the first thing you notice is
Thomas Meleck’s beautiful set design. Golden
lamp fixtures and art deco lights drip esthetically from the ceiling, the transom
window, in the portal, pours lights onto the antique hardwood flooring, a
silent gramophone sits high on a cabinet, wooden desks, a manual typewriter,
pneumatic tubes that transmit capsules of exigent letters, and all of the other
small touches that breathes life into this time and a place.
The windows have wooden blinds; when opened, they look out into
another downtown office building. This is a fitting office for the The Crisis, N.A.A.C.P’s official
magazine, located on the lower 5th Avenue in New York City.
But, at first glance, there is something peculiar about this
office space, one side being cramped and slightly disheveled, the other side
spacious and immaculate.
The spectator seats have been arranged to minimize the
acting space into a small focused and compact view - sharing two rooms - for
which the audience and office space become intimately involved.
On this fine morning, Miss Ovington (Melanie Cruz) makes her
way into the office, turns on the lights, pulls the sprightly shades to allow
an opening for ideas, sorts’ mail, and begins to type letters to individuals
that mostly antagonize her. She types
with a purpose, and quickly, the typewriters keys stick and ultimately she
decides that she might not want to send the letter. She crumples it and tosses it in the trash.
There is one thing Miss Ovington knows she must do on this
quiet office day. But for now she is slightly
distracted by a news items and takes a red pin and places it on the map. As she sticks it in, we notice the map is
littered with red pins; what offensives of human nature these pins represent will
be revealed later.
The moon pulls and the tides shift causing an emotional
response, the reasons why Miss Ovington must be in the N.A.A.C.P office, on
this day.
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| Ben Guillory |
Dr. Du Bois (Ben Guillory) steps into the office proudly, wearing
a white seersucker suit, red bow tie, grey vest with a pocket watch and a gold
chain. His floriferous attire is his
vestment of success. He comes in somber
as he stares at Miss Ovington.
“Why are you here on Sunday?” – Dr. Du Bois
“To save the N.A.A.C. P.” – Miss Ovington
Interesting that Miss Ovington should say that when there is
possibly more at stake here considering circumstances that they are both
familiar with.
Dr. Du Boise, in his willful renunciation, wants to resign
and plans to revise his letter of resignation.
This would be his fourth attempt at resigning. Miss Ovington will have
none of that talk; she expressively forbids it because she “values the word of
every human being.”
Spoken like a true Unitarian.
“The association can’t exist without you.” – Miss Ovington
The day is warm and Miss Ovington suggests Dr. Du Boise
remove his jacket. He politely demurs holding on what makes him feel fine
feathered and important. The focus shifts to a protest in the street
outside. Miss Ovington, in a show of solidarity, grabs the flag, and places it
in the holder, while Dr. Du Boise steps behind her and holds her by the waist.
“A man was lynched yesterday.” – Miss Ovington
This reveals the reason for the red pins as they walk to the
map and stare at hundreds of pins placed intermittently along a large swath of
the United States. They react internally
and for a long moment.
Dr. Du Boise moves into his cluttered office and leaves the
door open for Miss Ovington. She thinks
about it for a moment and then clutches the ledge of the interior casing of the
window. She holds herself back for fear
of someone’s righteous innuendo.
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| Melanie Cruz |
Her wait is a stunning picture. She stands alone protected by the soft
stratum of her neck covering, held tightly in the caring layer of her blue vested
garment, and covering of a matching blue skirt that floats below her ankles. Her hand suggests a proprietary event, and yet
it is only a piece of jewelry on her middle
finger.
Still, Miss Ovington waits, hanging on his every word,
hoping for something more, unwilling to give in to the thought of entering his
room.
Du Boise starts his gramophone, listening to the Fisk
Jubilee Singers, something to relax him, and possibly her.
This is a play by Clare
Coss where one wants to focus on the love first, and to then admire the
words as an afterthought. Watching you
almost forget; the color barrier of the time, the wall of black and white
separation, and let two human being live their life. Still, there’s much to be done, issues to
discuss, and lessons to be learned. One kept thinking that someone has to win
with some kind of emotional catharsis that carries the play, but I didn’t see
it and maybe it was not that type of play. Still, on the subject of love and
objectives, someone has to win the game, the cat and mouse game, or perhaps a chess
game, where a winner emerges.
Ben Guillory is
outstanding as Dr. Du Bois, his second outing as this character since Knock Me a Kiss by Charles Smith. This
Du Bois was much richer, the voice smoother and closer to recordings I’ve heard
of Dr. Du Bois. The character Du Bois has an unconquerable obstinacy and is
adamant about what he wants. And, he will
not give an inch in an effort to pursue his position in the N.A.A.C.P. But
despite his unpleasant reflection with his righteous counterparts of the
organization, he manages to keep his cool with Miss Ovington, notwithstanding
their disagreements. Movement needs to be made for the cause of love and work
must be set aside for injustices that must be made right. Also, Guillory needs
to figure out how to play spoons to make that scene work. (smile)
Melanie Cruz is
equally excellent as the ubiquitous Miss Ovington giving us a woman who is more
than a match for any man, and on any playing field. Waiting outside the office struck a solid
core, a truth that lifts one right out of their seat. Miss Ovington knows what she has to do to keep
Dr. Du Bois from resigning and she must go after it because there is only so
much time left in their encounter.
Ben Guillory’s
staging is excellent. But it may be helpful to have an extra pair of eyes to see
if the moments gel. At times, both
actors were briefly center stage caught up in the moment working out their
relationship without moving emotionally or physically in one direction or
another. Barbs were thrown in Miss Ovington’s direction with hardly an
infraction being recognized. When one is
hurt as part of the love game, one must come back energized to fight one more
round. In the end, and after their
stormy vicissitudes, we are concerned for the characters, and we wonder if their
eventual solitary destinies were the right course of action.
The wonderful Costume Design by Naila A. Sanders highlights the rules of the game, one of a social
order that limits expressions of love, simply by the confining nature of the clothing
where the physical emotions are held in check.
Run! Run! And take a Unitarian Universalist with you. I did and it made all the difference.
Other members of this wonderful crew are as follows:
JC Cadena – Associate Producer
Antonieta Castillo Carpio – Production Stage Manager
Michaél David Ricks – Lighting Design
Ivan Robles – Sound Design
Jasmine-Joy Singleton – Properties Designer
Jason Mimms – Graphic Design
Chris Carnell – Web Master
Justin Sloggatt – Film Design Supervisor
Art Chang – Film Design
Michael Blaze – Photographer
Philip Sokoloff – Publicist
Douglas Allen – Video Archives
The Robey Theatre Company
514 South Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Tickets: 866-811-4111
www.robeytheatrecompany.org
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