Gem Of The Ocean

On Tuesday night, went to see the Milwaukee Repertory Theater's production of August Wilson's Gem Of The Ocean, which moved me more deeply than any other play I've ever seen. I cried and cried and kept crying as I left the theater. I told David I want to keep subscribing to this incredible group's productions - I felt honored to have been touched and moved so deeply. That's when you know you're in the presence of great art. What a talent August Wilson is as a writer, to know humanity as deeply as he did and to be able to convey it so vividly. And this is the 3rd season David and I have subscribed to the Milwaukee Rep, and we've yet to be to a production they did that we didn't think was spectacular (even if we didn't like the play itself).

I've pasted the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's review here. If you live in or near Milwaukee you should really consider going!

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Rep proves 'Gem's' transcendence
Wilson's achievement grows with time
By DAMIEN JAQUES
Journal Sentinel theater critic
Posted: Oct. 21, 2006

The passage of time burnishes a great play, giving us perspective on the dimensions of the accomplishment and placing the piece in the context of its peers.

Lanise Antoine Shelley and Shane Taylor appear in the Milwaukee Repertory Theater's production of August Wilson's "Gem of the Ocean."

Move over "Death of a Salesman," "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Long Day's Journey Into Night." Room must be made for "Gem of the Ocean," which three years into its life has emerged as a transcendent contribution to serious American culture.

The Milwaukee Repertory Theater on Friday night opened a production worthy of the play and its lofty place on the theatrical landscape.

"Gem of the Ocean" is part of August Wilson's unparalleled 10-play cycle that reflects the African-American experience in each decade of the 20th century. The playwright died last year, shortly after completing the largest and most important project in American theater history.
Wilson did not follow chronological order in creating his series, and although "Gem" was the ninth piece written, it is set in 1904. The location is Pittsburgh, the dramatist's hometown, and black people nationwide are grappling with a cruel reality.

Slavery ended with the Emancipation Proclamation 41 years earlier, but legal bondage has been replaced by a malevolent web of trickery, intimidation and manipulation of the law. The goal is to keep African-Americans poor and powerless.

Freedom has included so many hurdles and hardships, a few former slaves have even wondered if Lincoln did them any favors. Simple survival is a challenge for black folks.

History may frame all of Wilson's work, but he created soaring theatricality within the borders. His characters speak with the poetry of the black vernacular and burst with vivid life, dimension and humanity.

They tell phenomenal stories that sometimes wander beyond realism but never fail to engage the audience. At times, the plays seem to be floating on clouds of lyricism.

In the more than 20 years he spent working on his series, Wilson wrote with increasing insight and wisdom into not only the racial conflict that torments this country but the human traits we all share. His plays have become rich tapestries of American history that resonate with black suffering while offering whites a deeper understanding of how we got to where we are.

All of this has been accomplished with considerable humor that is as organic as it is entertaining.
"Gem" possesses a mythic, epic texture with biblical overtones and a spiritual underpinning. The play's title is the name of the model-sized boat a troubled young man, only weeks removed from the South, takes to the City of Bones, a place of death and rebirth.

Citizen Barlow, the young man, is burning with guilt over his indirect culpability in the death of another, and the journey is his quest to wash his soul. The person who sends him is Aunt Ester, an African sage and prophet who has been a previously unseen presence in several of Wilson's other works.

Ester presides over the rooming house that serves as the play's setting. She has had four husbands and lived 285 years but remains physically spry and intellectually quick. The woman is 20th-century African-Americans' link to the accumulated wisdom of their African ancestry, and her calm, confident presence is a beacon of hope and strength for blacks in Pittsburgh and beyond.

Those powers are tested as several people involved in a rising wave of civil unrest in Pittsburgh come through the doors of the rooming house. Black frustration boils over in the streets and threatens the tranquil order inside.

The Rep's closely knit production, under the direction of Timothy Douglas, is a study in effective ensemble acting. Stephanie Berry's portrait of Ester is grounded in a wonderfully authentic earthiness that builds her stature as it establishes her humanity. Shane Taylor possesses a searing intensity in his depiction of the distressed Barlow.

Ray Anthony Thomas' portrayal of an African-American cop obsessed with following the letter of the law is notable for its ferocity and the actor's fearlessness in sculpting a complex, unlikable character.

Doug Brown, Lanise Antoine Shelley and Peter Silbert handle supporting roles with deftness and credibility. Ernest Perry, Jr. delivers ample charm playing Solly Two Kings, a sexagenarian rebel with a colorful and courageous past. But he needs to show us more fire to back up his actions.

"Gem of the Ocean" continues through Nov. 19 in the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater at the Baker Theater Complex, 108 E. Wells St. Tickets are on sale at the Rep's box office in the complex's lobby, by phone at (414) 224-9490, and online at www.milwaukeerep.com.