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!
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