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“…I believed in God!
I gave him my life, my soul, my breathing, my sight, my speech.
All of me I gave to him. I believed in him totally until he took a vacation
to the sun-soaked, cool beaches of Miami, while I needed his help and
love in the hot sticky tobacco fields of North Carolina. In a prison in Raleigh, North Carolina. A child…”
So says Cephus (Tory Kittles) sitting on a rocking chair set before a field — the sparse set of Home. We see a tobacco crop poised to become cash. His words and his story pour out of his mouth like flies abuzz with passion for poetry. We glean his meaning in spurts and strands—mesmerized. In relatively short order we become enmeshed in the richness of his tale and life journey — from poor farmer, to prison, to homeless druggie, return to the land and redemption. SPOILER ALERT: When Cephus’ story is tied up in a super-neat bow our eyes smart with tears of joy, even if our thoughts might be thinking that such Hollywood endings don’t typically fly. However, unlike God, we never got lost in Miami and instead are thinking —Of course his childhood flame came back to find him!
It’s the rare character we meet on a stage who is drawn so well and lovingly, in this reviewer’s opinion.
Two other actors— Woman One (Brittany Inge) and Woman Two (Stori Ayers)— are gymnastic griots rapidly switching roles and personas to help tell the tale. Sometimes they sing.
“WOMAN ONE & TWO.
…In that great gitt’n up morning fare you well. Fare you well.
WOMAN TWO. If there was ever a woman or man, who has everlasting grace in the eyes of God. It’s the farmer woman... and man.
WOMAN ONE. Tenders to the soil. Children of the land.
WOMAN TWO. Babies of the soil….”
Woman One plays Pattie Mae, Cephus’ soulmate and life’s love who is lost and later found. She is also, with Woman Two, a Greek Chorus who string together exposition so smoothly you feel it more as a poem.
Prison wardens, employers giving pink slips, fast women in the big bad city, ancient relatives back home, heartless social workers, drug dealers, missionaries, bus driver and more — the two women transition from role to role in quick blinks. They make every character so believable we feel like it is a cast of dozens, and not just the three powerhouse actors on the stage, with barely a prop to aid them.
Roundabout Theater Remounts a Classic
In this writer’s opinion the script by Samm-Art Williams, last staged 40 years ago, merits inclusion in the pantheon of classic theater. As the story unfolds it’s as if a blurry vista comes into ultra-pixel rich clarity. Director Kenny Leon makes choices in staging, lighting, set and casting that well honor recently deceased Samm-Art Williams’ script. We rarely get to see such brilliant acting.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Photos: Joan Marcus
WHEN:
Thru July 21, 2024
WHERE:
Todd Haimes Theatre
227 West 42nd Street
New York City
About the Author: Amy Munice
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
