Soon after entering the Signature Theater Company’s Peter Norton
Space, theatergoers will see that the setting Richard Hoover has
designed is as evocative and as meticulously considered as the
characters who inhabit it. And, upon exiting the theater after almost
three hours, there will be no doubt that the late August Wilson (April
27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was a playwright who could create the sort
of vivid characters who define a time and a place with only their
presence and their words.
This is the seventh play in Wilson’s decade-by-decade plays exploring
the experiences of African-Americans in the last century. It has been
10 years since “Seven Guitars” appeared on Broadway, but its indelibly
etched characters are now made more so by a superb cast that measure
up to the highest standards. The original Broadway production, under
the direction of Lloyd Richards, ran at the Walter Kerr Theater for
188 performances plus 13 previews in 1996.
In the current production at the Signature, a rotting barricade fence
provides a degree of privacy around the dirt backyard area of a brick
rooming house. A cellar door leads to a basement. A small garden in a
corner bravely confirms the presence of nature at this enclave in the
African-American Hill District of Pittsburgh in 1948. Nature
expectedly takes a back seat to the lives of seven culturally and
emotionally entwined characters compelled to tell their stories,
address their personal demons, confront an unforgiving society, and
retaliate.
This production, under the sensitive direction of Ruben
Santiago-Hudson, breathes with a freshness attained through
courageously individualized performances and the infallible integrity
of the staging. It is enhanced by original blues music by Bill Sims
Jr., which helps to establish the artistic side of the play’s
principal character, Floyd Barton (Lance Reddick), as well as consider
the time and legacy of archetypal Chicago electric guitar bluesman
Muddy Waters (referenced in the play).
Floyd’s recent death and subsequent funeral have brought together
those closest to him. The somber atmosphere at the opening is broken
as Louise (Brenda Pressley), a beautician, descends from her second
floor apartment a bit sloshed and sings “Anybody here wanna try my
cabbage just step this way; Anybody here like to try my cabbage; Just
holler Hey”, as Floyd’s musical partner/harmonica player Canewell
(Kevin T. Carroll) and drummer Red Carter (Stephen McKinley Henderson)
squabble over a piece of sweet potato pie. It should be noted that
Santiago-Hudson played the role of Canewell in the original Broadway
production.
As Vera (Roslyn Ruff), Floyd’s girlfriend, describes a vision she had
at the funeral of Floyd ascending to heaven accompanied by six angels,
the scene dissolves for a flashback to Floyd’s returning penniless
from Chicago to Pittsburgh after serving 90 days in the workhouse for
vagrancy.
Unquestionably driven more by character than plot, “Seven Guitars,”
nevertheless, stands out in the canon for the exceptionally
impassioned dialogue as well as the personality details that propel
and buoy seven individuals whose fate is being determined not only by
the culture and the time in which they live, but also by their dreams
and their willingness to hope.
The artistry of ensemble performing is in evidence everywhere. The
tall and lanky Reddick is almost scarily persuasive as the frustrated
yet patently ambitious Floyd, who desperately wants to re-ignite the
romance he had with Vera before he took off for Chicago with another
woman. That he wants to persuade Vera to go back to Chicago with him
provides the key to the play’s principal plot device. Ruff, who was
terrific in the McCarter Theater production of Wilson’s “Gem of the
Ocean,” gives a stoic yet poignant performance as Vera, who is torn
between her love for Floyd and her pride. As Canewell and Red, Carroll
and Henderson, respectively trade off contrasting attitudes and
alliances, as they are unwittingly forced to watch Floyd’s hopes being
whittled away.
Brenda Pressley lets attitude speak for itself as the sincerely kind
if outwardly blase Louise. Cassandra Freeman is a looker and perfect
as Louise’s sexy cousin, Ruby, who arrives from out of town with a bit
of a past following her. Charles Weldon stirs up a lot of dramatic
juice and touches our heart as Hedley, the occasionally crazed boarder
dying of tuberculosis who kills and sells chickens for a living. He
also dreams of having an heir to carry on his name. (Wilson’s “King
Hedley II,” set in 1985, was produced on Broadway in 2001 and will be
a part of the Wilson season at Signature).
The intimacy created at this theater with only 160 seats is felt most
effectively during Floyd’s heart-breaking monologue in which he vents
his anger and his inability to overcome the obstacles that have
prevented him from realizing his dream. This is a production that
should be seen by everyone who enjoys seeing the best in American
dramatic literature presented in the finest dramatic tradition. HHHH
“Seven Guitars,” Signature Theater Company’s Peter Norton Space, 555
W. 42nd St. Signature has established a special $15 ticket price
(regularly $55) for all performances in the originally scheduled
eight-week runs of the three plays in the August Wilson series: “Seven
Guitars” (through October 7), “Two Trains Running” (November 7 through
December 31) and “King Hedley II” (February 2007). Performance
schedule” Mondays at 8 p.m.; Tuesdays at 7 p.m.; Wednesday matinees at
2 p.m.; Wednesday through Fridays at 8 p.m.; and Saturdays at 2 and 8
p.m. For subscription and single ticket information, call 212-244-PLAY
(7529).
The key: HHHH Don’t miss; HHH You won’t feel cheated; HH Maybe you
should have stayed home; H Don’t blame us.
