Wanda's Picks Radio Show, Wednesday, March 20, 2019
This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the
African Diaspora via the writing, performance, both musical and
theatrical (film and stage), as well as the visual arts of Africans in
the Diaspora and those influenced by these aesthetic forms of
expression. I am interested in the political and social ramifications of
art on society, specifically movements supported by these artists and
their forebearers. It is my claim that the artists are the true
revolutionaries, their work honest and filled with raw unedited passion.
They are our true heroes. Ashay!
1. Leah Joki, No Joke Theatre at LAC-California State Prison, Lancaster, CA
2. L. Peter Callender, Director, Black Eagles by Leslie Lee at African American Shakespeare at the Marine's Memorial theatre Sat.-Sun., through March 31. Visit https://www.african-americanshakes.org/productions/black-eagles/
3. Rebroadcast of interview with Devin Cunningham and Robert Thomas Simpson re: Black Eagles (Feb. 20, 2019).
Review
1. Leah Joki, No Joke Theatre at LAC-California State Prison, Lancaster, CA
2. L. Peter Callender, Director, Black Eagles by Leslie Lee at African American Shakespeare at the Marine's Memorial theatre Sat.-Sun., through March 31. Visit https://www.african-americanshakes.org/productions/black-eagles/
3. Rebroadcast of interview with Devin Cunningham and Robert Thomas Simpson re: Black Eagles (Feb. 20, 2019).
Review
By Wanda Sabir
“Black Eagles” by Leslie Lee, directed by L. Peter Callender, currently on stage at African American Shakespeare Company challenges prejudicial notions of courage and patriotism. All the Fighting 99th Tuskegee Airmen want is an opportunity to serve. What makes this story even more compelling is its double exposure. Three of the men have older and younger selves. The elders reflect in flashbacks – the younger men, including one dummy, are disciplined, recognize the bigotry and do not racism to divide their ranks or undermine their worth. What happened at Port Chicago was replicated on military bases throughout this country and in international theatres. Racism is a uniquely American export even in Nazi Germany white skin was more privileged, which made the Marine’s Memorial Theatre a perfect setting for Lee’s work. Add to that Bertram Clark’s Tuskegee Airman and African American WWII posters, photos and artifacts and the performance has a larger resonance when patrons walk into the theatre lobby, stand at the concession stand and look out the window nearby. Black history is everywhere.
The cast both elders and younger selves are excellent. The energy and excitement of youth balanced with the wisdom of age gives the audience a dual perspective on military life the younger selves have not lived yet. Stationed in Italy, 1944, the men escort white fighter pilots with less flight experience when technically if all were fair, the reverse would have been true. President Obama invited “over 330 of these men to his inauguration and in 2007, surviving airmen were invited to the Capitol rotunda to receive the Congressional Medal” (program notes).
30 years ago Callender originated the character I found most intriguing, Roscoe (actor Ron Chapman), because he is a ventriloquist and plays with a doll. I don't know how many officers share their vulnerabilities through such a vehicle, but it works. That Sunday, Opening Weekend, Callender had on his leather bomber jacket from his performance at the Manhattan Theatre Club. He told me in a follow-up interview that he got called into the production late and the men in the cast formed such a bond they all had their jackets personalized with a Tuskegee airman design. Also special to the director is his son, Brandon’s (as Nolan) first performance with the AASC.
America is at war, at war both domestically and globally, yet the men are optimistic that they will get a chance to prove their humanity. Strange how death validates life. The Black Eagles are also young and as youth, they know how to have fun. The jitterbug drill is a moment in the play that you don’t want to miss. Choreographed by Kendra Kimbrough Barnes, the men are steppin’ tall, steppin’ with pride. And this is just one of the many wonderful moments we share with the men both in the air and on the ground—another is when the black officers call on the white officers, their peers, to challenge the unfair restrictions on black soldiers. The play closes March 31, with two shows: Sat., at 8 p.m., 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre
“Black Eagles” by Leslie Lee, directed by L. Peter Callender, currently on stage at African American Shakespeare Company challenges prejudicial notions of courage and patriotism. All the Fighting 99th Tuskegee Airmen want is an opportunity to serve. What makes this story even more compelling is its double exposure. Three of the men have older and younger selves. The elders reflect in flashbacks – the younger men, including one dummy, are disciplined, recognize the bigotry and do not racism to divide their ranks or undermine their worth. What happened at Port Chicago was replicated on military bases throughout this country and in international theatres. Racism is a uniquely American export even in Nazi Germany white skin was more privileged, which made the Marine’s Memorial Theatre a perfect setting for Lee’s work. Add to that Bertram Clark’s Tuskegee Airman and African American WWII posters, photos and artifacts and the performance has a larger resonance when patrons walk into the theatre lobby, stand at the concession stand and look out the window nearby. Black history is everywhere.
The cast both elders and younger selves are excellent. The energy and excitement of youth balanced with the wisdom of age gives the audience a dual perspective on military life the younger selves have not lived yet. Stationed in Italy, 1944, the men escort white fighter pilots with less flight experience when technically if all were fair, the reverse would have been true. President Obama invited “over 330 of these men to his inauguration and in 2007, surviving airmen were invited to the Capitol rotunda to receive the Congressional Medal” (program notes).
30 years ago Callender originated the character I found most intriguing, Roscoe (actor Ron Chapman), because he is a ventriloquist and plays with a doll. I don't know how many officers share their vulnerabilities through such a vehicle, but it works. That Sunday, Opening Weekend, Callender had on his leather bomber jacket from his performance at the Manhattan Theatre Club. He told me in a follow-up interview that he got called into the production late and the men in the cast formed such a bond they all had their jackets personalized with a Tuskegee airman design. Also special to the director is his son, Brandon’s (as Nolan) first performance with the AASC.
America is at war, at war both domestically and globally, yet the men are optimistic that they will get a chance to prove their humanity. Strange how death validates life. The Black Eagles are also young and as youth, they know how to have fun. The jitterbug drill is a moment in the play that you don’t want to miss. Choreographed by Kendra Kimbrough Barnes, the men are steppin’ tall, steppin’ with pride. And this is just one of the many wonderful moments we share with the men both in the air and on the ground—another is when the black officers call on the white officers, their peers, to challenge the unfair restrictions on black soldiers. The play closes March 31, with two shows: Sat., at 8 p.m., 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre
609 Sutter Street, 2nd Floor, San
Francisco, CA. The nearest BART Station is Powell. For tickets visit
African-AmericanShakes.org or (800) 838.3006. To listen to an interview with
the director, visit http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wandas-picks/2019/03/20/wandas-picks-radio-show
posted by Interchange @ 11:10 AM
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