Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at The Lyttleton

What an inspired choice on the part of Rufus Norris to stage the wonderful August Wilson play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, written in 1984. This marvelous production has everything, laughs, tragedy, fantastic music and very, very accomplished actors, singers and musicians, all imbued with a sense that the entire cast are having a blast.

The play is based around a recording session in Chicago in 1927 with Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey and her Georgia Band comprising Cutler, Toledo, Slow Drag and Levee.  The bisexual Ma Rainey, known as the Mother Of The Blues by the rural black community, is a feisty diva and when she finally arrives with her nephew, Sylvester and female squeeze, Dussie Mae, runs rings around her Manager, Irvin and exasperates Sturdyvant, the Music Producer with her intransigence.  Her extremely late arrival means that the band have time to banter, tell stories, joke, philosophise and argue in between rehearsing.  The joshing between the four eventually highlights a tension between hot headed trumpeter, Levee, an ambitious young man who wants his own band and is confident the producers will use his version of Black Bottom, and veteran players Cutler and Toledo.  Ma’s bad time keeping throws Irvin and Sturdyvant into complete disarray, exacerbated by the fact that she wants the stuttering Sylvester to do the voice intro to the title song.  Amidst the laughs and banter there is tension in the air.

Everything about this passionate production is spot on, from Dominic Cooke’s direction to Ultz’s pitch perfect set.  The large Lyttleton stage is used to its full potential and, with the sound booth in the centre, makes the perfect recording studio.  Stairs lead up to this booth and down to the musician’s rehearsal space, which is viewed when the whole stage is raised.

The underlying message from August Wilson is how the white population exploit the blacks.  Although reigning supreme in the studio, it is made clear that Ma holds little sway in the world beyond and that the two white men only tolerate her because of her cash cow status.  The staging also highights white supremacy, for whilst the two producers inhabit their eyrie high above the stage, with a no admittance sign hanging on the stairs, the black musicians are holed up in the bowels of the building.  As Toledo states, the whites view blacks as leftovers from history.

Musically and theatrically, there are no bum notes.  The entire cast are sublime, with Sharon D. Clarke leading the way as a terrific Ma Rainey.  Imperious to everyone, apart from Sylvester (Tunji Lucas) and Dussie Mae (Tamara Lawrance), Ma shows her contempt with Irvin (Finbar Lynch) and Sturdyvant (Stuart McQuarrie) not only verbally, but with a bored roll of an eye and belligerent clenched jaw.  And when she sings, everyone sits up and takes notice.

The four black musicians are also a delight.  O-T Fagbenle swaggers to perfection but also manages to show his insecurity.  When he relates a story from his childhood, his pain is immediately obvious and we’re aware that this unsettled young man could explode at any time.  His polar opposite is pianist Toledo, beautifully played by Lucian Msamati.  This older and wiser man is self-contained, showing his passion solely with words.  Implacable and dogmatic, he always has something to say to counterpoint Levee.  Clint Dyer as Cutter, the trombonist and leader of the band, worn down by continually trying to get Levee to join in and rehearse, is equally fine as is the double-bassist, Giles Terera as Slow Drag, the laid back charmer.

So there it is, a wonderful play by an extremely talented black dramatist for a predominately black cast, that is wholly from a black perspective with no preconceived opinions from a white man.   I was so taken by this first night preview that I’ve booked tickets for the final performance, although I'm sure it won't have improved much; it doesn't need to!