A Song for Coretta

By Pearl Cleage
Directed by Sarah Moeller
 

In 2006 when Coretta Scott King was memorialized at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, hundreds converged at the site to pay their last respects, many of them standing for hours in the rain.  It is this scene that moved award-winning author and playwright Pearl Cleage to scribe her latest play, A Song for Coretta, now showing at the Eclipse Theater Company.  Less of a story about the immediate impact left by Coretta Scott King’s direct actions and more of a story about the far-reaching influence of the symbolism of her strength and womanhood on everyday citizens, A Song for Coretta presents the wide spectrum of black women’s voices touched by that legacy.

The first of those many voices is exclaimed by Zora.  Played effortlessly and convincingly by Niccole Thurman, Zora is a journalism student at Spellman, the leading black women’s college in Atlanta.  Arriving on the scene excited and equipped with recorder in hand, she is ready to document the emotions and thoughts of those gathering to honor one of the Civil Rights Era’s leading icons.  Thurman’s youthful energy solidly represents that segment of the population that is filled with hope, appreciative of the legacy of Coretta Scott King and eager to make their own mark in history. 

Zora’s first encounter of the evening is with Helen, a poised, upright and ultimately outspoken senior who – to the thrill of Zora – proudly divulges that she actually had the opportunity as a young child to meet Mrs. King during the early days of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.  Helen’s humble account of her exchange with King begins to paint the picture of the impact that the “First Lady” of the Civil Rights Movement, her contemporaries and the events of that era possibly had on African American men and women of Helen’s age.  At 57, Helen – played by Eclipse Theater Ensemble member Taylar -- serves as the virtual self-appointed “elder” amongst the small gathering of mourners that evening.  While she displays the classic matriarchal mentality often seen in such roles – full of warmth and wisdom – both her wisdom and warmth are challenged by the presence of the youngest member of the group, Keisha.  Although Helen’s reverent and righteous image is one that is valued in the community, the image as portrayed in the production seems somewhat dated -- her costume and carriage more representative of a senior citizen of the Civil Rights era itself rather than one of current times.  Nevertheless, her character introduces a valuable lesson about actions speaking louder than words when notions of justice and judgment arise out of the conversations that transpire over the evening. 

Bringing color and a hint of chaos to the gathering, Mona Lisa -- played by Kelly Owens -- is next to join Helen and Zora.  Graced in gypsy-like garb, she represents not only the earthy, bohemian sisters in the fold, but much like a gypsy, poignantly represents the flock of wanderers left with no home and only their personal items, robbed of the world as they knew it by hurricane Katrina.  Owens manages to balance the range of feelings one can only imagine as experienced by a Katrina survivor:  distress and distrust coupled with the determination and dignity required in order to maintain a sense of self-worth.  Her treasured sketch pad symbolically serves many purposes including an outlet for artistic expression, a source of income and, like Zora’s voice recorder, a tool for collecting historic moments while they are being made.

One of the most stirring performances is delivered by Kristy Johnson, who plays Keisha.  A stereotypical smart-mouthed teen with an attitude as fierce as her clothing, Keisha represents a large majority of today’s urban youth who – shaped by harsh realities – are in some regard wiser than their years and yet, by nature, are younger and more vulnerable than their egos allow.  Immediately confrontational with the “old guard” as represented by Helen, her character is used by Cleage to bring into question, exactly what measures of progress or lack thereof, can the community afford to claim or ignore if it is truly committed to the legacy left by the Civil Rights leadership.  Have we completely created a “better world” for our sons and daughters?

Representing one of the least heard of black women’s voices is that of Gwen, a soldier who has returned to Atlanta while on leave from the war in Iraq.  Quiet and reserved, Gwen represents an alternative notion of the typical face of an American soldier – young, white and male.  Likewise, she also represents an alternative notion to challenging the country’s authority, which was a core ideal of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.  Her personal battle is to challenge and question the country’s authority -- its military authority. On an evening when folks have gathered to celebrate the legacy of those who “had a dream,” Gwen is struggling with her own nightmare and not one at the hands of the enemy combatants but at the hands of her own military comrades.  Through Gwen’s account, Cleage artfully reminds -- if not introduces to -- the audience one of the most unsettling casualties of war. 

With a simple stage setting, A Song for Coretta relies heavily on the narratives of its characters.  Through such narratives and the interactions between these five divergent personalities, Cleage showcases an uncompromising, underlying sisterhood amongst African American women.  While she is to be commended for displaying the variety of personalities and experiences that exist within today’s community of African American women -- a community too often portrayed as monolithic – Cleage’s efforts fall a little short of leaving the lasting impressions left in some of her previous works.  In those earlier plays, Cleage manages to weave valuable accounts of African American history into the audience’s psyche by including them as backdrops to the intricately intriguing lives of her characters.  In A Song for Coretta, while each woman’s experience is undoubtedly significant in its own right, it’s challenging to give proper attention to the significance of each experience because of the sheer volume and variety of them all.  Each character’s tale is practically worthy of its own separate screen play and in some sense, there almost seems to be too many causes crowded under one umbrella. 

A Song for Coretta nonetheless achieves a respectable accomplishment of giving credence to all of the voices of African American women that continue to search, share and shape the communities in which they live.  Whether it is a child at a time, a family at a time, a cause at a time or a movement at a time -- like Coretta Scott King, each sister has the power to shape history in her own lifetime.  For years, through her novels and plays, Pearl Cleage has continued to build a treasured collection of educationally entertaining records of “herstory” and there is no better time than now for us to ask ourselves what our own legacies will be.

Wendi Hill
Comments?  E-mail me at Wendi@so-LAZE.com

A Song for Coretta continues through July 26, 2009.