Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Hurt Village by Katori Hall: Combating the Vilification of African Americans






The details of racism can be complex and inconvenient.  While we applaud The Wire for its nuanced look at the black underclass and many Mad Men fans expectantly wait for the show, to perhaps, paint an accurate look at civil rights and affirmative action in the late 60's, the concept of sympathetic black characters with baggage is still elusive to much of the American public.  Katori Hall's "Hurt Village,” focuses on a poor, black Memphis family that has to move in a week because its housing has been bought up by developers for the purpose of gentrification.  However, at the last minute, the family's application to receive Section 8 is denied because the household income is a few hundred dollars over the limit.  This story mirrors the troubles faced by the characters in Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun."  Except Hansberry's characters were trying to move on up while Hall's are simply moving on out.  After she returns home empty-handed, Big Mama (Tonya Pinkins), the grandmother matriarch of the family, screams "America Ain't Shit!"  The sentiment is clear. How can a society that is completely open to the displacement of poor black people really care about inequality? 


"Hurt Village" covers everything that could befall a family... from poverty to drug addiction to post-traumatic war stress.  It hits the audience like a flood.  Through 13-year-old heroine, Cookie (Joaquina Kalukango), an enthusiastic student and  rap artist in the making, Hall explores the bleak realities of current day America; characters are aware of their circumstances, the unfairness of the system, but also have  a keen sense of their own agency.  In one scene, a young mother, Toyia (Saycon Sengbloh), rants about a white nurse who had suggested she be sterilized after she gave birth to her daughter.  At the end of the scathing monologue, she quips, "She was right though!"  The characters in the play are all aware of their plight which is not the case for everyone in similar situations.  The fight against racism is still a war of consciousness.   


Like a Sam Shepard play, “Hurt Village” portrays dysfunctional families  whose characterizations are not strictly realistic, but are still somehow very honest.  Hall's characters have names that reflect their troubles like "Crank" (Marsha Stephanie Blake) who struggles with addiction. In the second act, the lights go out and a spotlight hits Crank as she spins in a circle and speaks a beautiful poetic monologue directed to her daughter who is not present.  With the exception of a this time break, "Hurt Village" is not marked by the magical realism of Hall's Broadway sensation, "The Mountaintop."  


Hall does not shy away from mess.  The writing is the perfect combination of tragedy and comedy.  Each actor was superb.  There were also wonderful performances from Corey Hawkins (Buggy), Nicholas Christopher (Cornbread), Charlie Hudson III (Ebony), Lloyd Watts (Skillet), and the brilliant Ron Cephas Jones dressed all in white as the formidable drug boss, Tony C.  The bad news is that  I saw the production of the play the day before it closed.  The good news is it is being made into a movie and that it can always be put up again. 


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