Shakespeare Theatre Company: The Amen Corner

First off, I love the works of James Baldwin.  "Go Tell It On The Mountain" is the novel that first taught me to fall in love with novels.  Up until then, I was just a casual dater of books.  They were distractions.  Then I read GTIotM, and learned that they could become affairs of the heart, too.  It has been years since last I read this book.  I had a vague memory of its plot and characters.  I remember most the similarities between it and GTIotM.  In a nutshell, it is the story of Margaret, a storefront evangelist who has raised her son, David, with the help of her sister, Odessa.  Suddenly, her estranged husband reenters her world.  Luke has lived a wild life and his now dying.  He advent opens up a world of conflicting emotions in Margaret and the opportunity for leading members of her congregation to exploit the moment and oust her from the church she founded.

For the past couple of years, I have been working on seeing all of August Wilson's oeuvre performed live on stage.  I am a little past halfway through, and as interesting as many of his plays are--Baldwin's novel adapted for stage is better by far.  It is an original story that simultaneously honors religion while exposing it's ugliest possibility.  It elevates the cost of integrity, while demonstrating that forgiveness comes with no less a price.  It gives us a range of interesting and complicated characters, and provides all eight with a least one moment to rise and be heard, to express their deeper selves.

The lobby was adorned with two beautiful paintings of stained-glass windows featuring the main characters.

Set in a storefront church in New York City the stage is divided between the elevated sanctuary and a kitchen and bedroom located in the basement below.  The costumes are beautiful.  The lightening adequate until the very last scenes in which it takes on a dimension that mirrors the crescendo in the plot to outstanding effect.   And throughout Gospel music sets the moment, enhances the moment and propels the moment forward with a power that is as authentic as any choir at any homecoming service anywhere in America.

Each of the actors was just pitch perfect.  Largely a cast with years of experience outside of the DMV that included plenty of Broadway, off-Broadway, and famed regional theatre powerhouses.  I could easily praise all of them, but for the sake of time, allow these three to represent the whole.  Antonio Michael Woodard portrayed David, Sister Margaret's 18-year-old son.  His apprehension of the character wedded both his command of the dialogue and his physicality to create a performance that rang true on every level.  One of the exceptions to the new faces was E. Faye Butler.  Her resume is just as rich as the other principle actors, and we in the DMV have been privileged to be a significant part of it.  I have had the pleasure of watching her perform in several productions, most notably as Mrs. Lovett in "Sweeney Todd."  Here she gives us Sister Moore, the gossipy, self-righteous, self-proclaimed leader of the elders.  What mesmerized me most was her use of her voice to center in on the character's unique personality.  Therein, she quickly became an audience favorite, quick of wit, hitting line after line for laugh.  And then, when she turned, when her character emerged as the heartless, wounded jackal ready, willing and able to devour Sister Margaret before God and everyone else--it was that aspect of her portrayal that rang the most sinister.

But the tour-de-force of the production fell to Mia Ellis' portrayal of the tortured protagonist, Sister Margaret Alexander.  The character that presented in the start, and who then was shaken to her core by events both of her making and beyond her control, remained true if chastened in the end.  This is a nuanced performance that given the complexities of the character was nothing short of amazing.  And finally, in the arena of the lesser players, two giants of the DMV must be acknowledged.  Nova Y. Payton and Jade Jones brought the church to the stage every time they sang.  Over the years, I've come to expect nothing short of amazement whenever I discover they are part of a cast.  It is an expectation that has never been disappointed.  Brava to both and to all of the rest of this amazing cast.