Stage Review - From the Mississippi Delta (Tacoma Little Theatre)
Stage Review - From the Mississippi Delta
Presented By: Tacoma Little Theatre - Tacoma, WA
Show Run: June 07 - June 23, 2024
Date Reviewed: Friday, June 07, 2024 (Opening Night)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
If you had the opportunity to read my review for The Niceties, currently running at Lakewood Playhouse, or if you’ve attended a performance of the show, you’ll know that one of the overarching themes of that play is how a large part of our collective history is missing because it simply wasn’t recorded by those who experienced it. Specifically, the history we are taught is driven by the facts that we have, most notably those recorded by the largely affluent white men in power who had both the opportunity to record their stories, and the self-appointed responsibility of compiling what they felt were the most important events on our collective timeline. What has been left out is a significant part of our nation’s history, a large portion of that as told from the African American perspective. Thankfully, with plays like The Niceties, the August Wilson catalog, and biographical stories like Fannie, we’re starting to be able to fill in the blanks and get a much richer view of our past, even with its scars and still open wounds. On the other side of Tacoma from Lakewood, a result of mere coincidence, Tacoma Little Theatre is closing its 105th season with a play that most definitely contributes to our greater understanding of history, From the Mississippi Delta, written by and largely about the life of Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland and directed by Michelle Blackmon.
This is a story of overcoming the hardships thrust upon some based simply on when, where, and to whom they were born, it’s a tale of family and love, and ultimately one of human perseverance. Told by a cast of three actors, identified by color as Red, Yellow, and Blue, their wardrobe consistent with their individual identities, the show begins with the actors presenting a statement about where their individual characters come from, all relating a fact about growing up in the Mississippi Delta. These statements set the tone early for what is a serious and important piece, the first expressing that, as a young woman, in her Delta town, understanding and accepting your inferiority makes life easier, the second talks about the prevalence of rape in hers, and the third laments how some of the lighter skinned black women dream of becoming the mistress of a white man, but for the darker ones, their escape is through working in the cotton fields. And thus begins the story of Ida Mae Holland, first through her mother’s experience of working the cotton fields and then becoming a midwife, then through Ida’s own life. It soon becomes clear that each of the women are Ida Mae, and at the same time a number of other characters in her life. Red, played here by Sonia Alexis, is the exception, mostly playing one character, Ida’s mother (“Aint Baby”), but also taking a turn as the brick throwing, “get off my lawn, er, water meter” Miss Rosebud, and other smaller pieces. Whitney Crawford (Yellow) and Canae Machelle Gray (Blue) take turns as Ophelia, Ida’s childhood name, but also a slew of other characters as well, male, female, black, white, old, and young. The three are quite agile and extremely talented moving from one role to another, in some cases pretty quickly.
The play follows the life of Ida Mae Holland (she prepended Endesha to her name later in life to reflect her African heritage) through her early childhood, her traumatic rape at the hands of the white father of a girl she was babysitting, her association with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the civil rights movement, the fire that took her home (and her mother), her escape to school in the North and all the way through her doctorate graduation. It’s quite the life story, and the way it is presented here is hard hitting, but superb. Events that occurred in her life, horrific situations thrust upon people like Ida Mae, are known to us, we realize that they have happened, but seeing them presented on the stage, and in the way that this play puts them out there, make them hit home in a special way. But it’s not all bad, Ida Mae has the admirable, if not always healthy, way of putting the hardships of life behind her, something she turns into the strength that allows her to break free from those three statements that the play began with, it’s just such a shame she had to endure what she did in order to make it happen. And thanks to this play, and her larger story getting out there, we can gain a new appreciation not just for the way she overcame these events, but even more so for those who never had the opportunity to, and still don’t.
Driving this home is no easy task, and the trio of Sonia, Whitney, and Canae deliver this story in such a wonderful way. Their accents are masterful, their ability to switch characters on a dime uncanny. There were a few missteps during the opening night performance, a few “whose line is it?” moments, but none took anything away from the storytelling, this group self-corrected very quickly and passionately delivered the eleven scenes that tell the story of Ida Mae Holland. And speaking of accents, sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest differences, and as Ida Mae traveled farther away from Mississippi and gained life and academic knowledge, the thinner the actors’ accents became. This play is filled with the little details, Blake R. York’s scenic design, that includes his typical brilliant use of TLT’s LED screen system, is laid out for Director Michelle Blackmon’s blocking to provide smooth motion throughout the story while the actors move from level to level and piece to piece in each scene. It helps keep the flow moving and scene changes short. Adding to the scene changes is the use of hymns or spirituals, sung in sweet harmony by the actors at the end of every scene that transition into instrumental versions while the pieces on the stage are shuffled for the next. The LED background works in concert with Alonna Julianne Hall’s lighting to bring fire to the stage, brightness to the sunshine, and emotion to the important moments in Holland’s life. The structure of the set itself, with its haphazardly placed boards, resembles a ramshackle house, perhaps one of the “shotgun houses” referred to in the play. For red, yellow, and blue characters, Costume Designer Wanda Walden has each of the actors wearing a coverall in their particular cover, but it’s the wardrobe worn by the ancillary characters that the actors present where Wanda’s costumes shine. It’s a heavy show at times, but there are definitely moments of light, and Michelle’s vision for this play presents both, making the audience uncomfortable at one moment, and wanting to stand and applaud at the next.
From the Mississippi Delta tells the autobiographical story of Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland, a life of hardship, hope, and perseverance. Holland’s play contains moments that are hard to watch, and others that are joyous, a human story that helps provide depth in our nation’s collective history that is severely lacking. The TLT production, directed by Michelle Blackmon and featuring actors Sonia Alexis, Whitney Crawford, and Canae Machelle Gray, hits all of the emotional marks and shines a powerful light on a woman whose life story has so much to teach us, not just as black or white, but more importantly as human beings.
From the Mississippi Delta runs on stage at Tacoma Little Theatre through June 23. For more information, including ticket availability and purchase, visit https://www.tacomalittletheatre.com/. Note that due to some mature situations depicted in this play, it may not be suitable for younger audiences, the theatre has marked the show as recommended for those 16 years of age and older.
Photo credit: Dennis K. Photography
