This story is ahead of its time and at the same time REFLECTS the NEW SOCIETY, THE NEW CHURCH, and a UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD currently LOOMING towards our present and transforming society.
This production attempts to address an antithetical, philosophical IDEOLOGY which, in our currently sociological state, is still far from becoming reality. And the reason for this is rooted on acceptable SOCIAL NORMS, which our American society has a "tight hold" on.
Playwright Lawrence Floyd is a very talented writer. A passionate intellectual reformer, and a SIREN for what's coming (in terms of social change and reform). Mr. Floyd's last production (also published on this blog) RESURGENCE, is a prime example of this very talented writing.
However, with that being said, I found some very fundamental problems with this property and its "execution" on stage by veteran, and highly respected director, Patricia R. Floyd
Beginning with the PREMISE of the story; the first lady, was not the "first lady" we, as the audience, had perceived to be from the beginning. But that's okay because it caught us by "surprise" and added a delicious "twist" to the development of the premise (this attests to Mr. Floyd's talented writing). This PREMISE was the true "story arc" of the play, and Mr. Floyd made an excellent choice, as a playwright, to conceal this premise with overlapping subplots involving the church congregation (with their innuendos of "questionable sexual orientation AND identity; with an equally "progressive" assistant pastor, Mr. Julius, played by actor Ken Alston, Jr.,eager to bring reform and new "breath" to the daily operations of the church). This kept the audience entertained and "plugged in" to the story.
And even in the subplots, the "stories" were not what was presented, and this, too, was very clever and a delightful surprise. In speaking with audience members after the production, every one I spoke agreed that this was very clever-and reflects reality! For example, there are cases of effeminate men being COMPLETELY STRAIGHT, but because they were RAISED with a household of FEMALES this trait becomes assimilated in personality. This is social science and it is VALIDATED.
This is WHY the audience "bought it"
So what was the problem? The directing was the problem; too many transitional scenes which didn't really MOVE THE STORY FORWARD. Much could have been accomplished with fewer set changes and transitional scenes-because every time it was done, THERE WAS NO DISCOVERY or "forward movement" of the original premise. This confused the audience (especially in act two!) and couldn't continue to follow the story. The audience began to "chatter" and "text" on their phones and laugh inappropriately at certain scenes and beats.
However, with that being said, it was impressive the "outcome" of those subplot developments; finding out that the supposed 'dyke' or 'butch', Cherry (played by actress Cedrina S. Baugh) was not really a "same gender loving" member, but just a "tom boy" looking for female leadership, identification, and guidance; or the supposed gay man, Lawrence (played by actor Neil Dawson) because he 'looked' the part, really being a heterosexual in need of becoming more masculine-and becoming comfortable in this expected societal role, were all excellent "deviant" tactics in distracting the audience from the MAIN story PREMISE-that of the "true" First Lady, of the church.
Then there's the issue of CASTING. Although actor Ashley N. Jeffrey was delightfully cute and likable on stage, her casting as the "lead" singer should have been delegated to actress Amber A. Harris, who was by far the strongest vocalist among the cast!
Again, this is NOT to suggest that Ms. Ashley N. Jeffrey is not a good vocalist. The range and octaves in which the songs were written, were not APPROPRIATE for her particular range. This CLEARLY was a directing decision, and a very BAD ONE. It's all the audience talked about!
Act two was a total DISASTER, the story threads fell apart and the audience lost "focus" and became restless. The momentum and tempo took a NOSE DIVE in act two and most of the scenes were anti climatic.
At one point, the audience and myself could not decipher what was going on (and the pastor's gambling problem wasn't really addressed, nor the why it was presented as part of the story premise in the first place!)
Don't get me wrong, now! It was a good subplot to the premise-BUT IT WAS NOT EXPLAINED nor RESOLVED, therefore, making it anti climatic. The audience WANTED THAT ISSUE OF THE GAMBLING ADDRESSED! And it wasn't
The songs, although nice and entertaining, seemed "shoved into" the script as a 'fuller' and most audience members "held their breaths" when another 'song' was getting ready to "loom".
Anthony Davidson did a wonderful job in his design creation. It was functional, brief, and original. The combination with the lighting design by Antionette Tynes, and the sound by Derrick Minter, captured the imical illusion of a church and the daily rituals which occur therein.
This was an ambitious production, but clearly needs more work on the part of the playwright and the director.
This production receives ONE STAR.
This production attempts to address an antithetical, philosophical IDEOLOGY which, in our currently sociological state, is still far from becoming reality. And the reason for this is rooted on acceptable SOCIAL NORMS, which our American society has a "tight hold" on.
Playwright Lawrence Floyd is a very talented writer. A passionate intellectual reformer, and a SIREN for what's coming (in terms of social change and reform). Mr. Floyd's last production (also published on this blog) RESURGENCE, is a prime example of this very talented writing.
However, with that being said, I found some very fundamental problems with this property and its "execution" on stage by veteran, and highly respected director, Patricia R. Floyd
Beginning with the PREMISE of the story; the first lady, was not the "first lady" we, as the audience, had perceived to be from the beginning. But that's okay because it caught us by "surprise" and added a delicious "twist" to the development of the premise (this attests to Mr. Floyd's talented writing). This PREMISE was the true "story arc" of the play, and Mr. Floyd made an excellent choice, as a playwright, to conceal this premise with overlapping subplots involving the church congregation (with their innuendos of "questionable sexual orientation AND identity; with an equally "progressive" assistant pastor, Mr. Julius, played by actor Ken Alston, Jr.,eager to bring reform and new "breath" to the daily operations of the church). This kept the audience entertained and "plugged in" to the story.
And even in the subplots, the "stories" were not what was presented, and this, too, was very clever and a delightful surprise. In speaking with audience members after the production, every one I spoke agreed that this was very clever-and reflects reality! For example, there are cases of effeminate men being COMPLETELY STRAIGHT, but because they were RAISED with a household of FEMALES this trait becomes assimilated in personality. This is social science and it is VALIDATED.
This is WHY the audience "bought it"
So what was the problem? The directing was the problem; too many transitional scenes which didn't really MOVE THE STORY FORWARD. Much could have been accomplished with fewer set changes and transitional scenes-because every time it was done, THERE WAS NO DISCOVERY or "forward movement" of the original premise. This confused the audience (especially in act two!) and couldn't continue to follow the story. The audience began to "chatter" and "text" on their phones and laugh inappropriately at certain scenes and beats.
However, with that being said, it was impressive the "outcome" of those subplot developments; finding out that the supposed 'dyke' or 'butch', Cherry (played by actress Cedrina S. Baugh) was not really a "same gender loving" member, but just a "tom boy" looking for female leadership, identification, and guidance; or the supposed gay man, Lawrence (played by actor Neil Dawson) because he 'looked' the part, really being a heterosexual in need of becoming more masculine-and becoming comfortable in this expected societal role, were all excellent "deviant" tactics in distracting the audience from the MAIN story PREMISE-that of the "true" First Lady, of the church.
Then there's the issue of CASTING. Although actor Ashley N. Jeffrey was delightfully cute and likable on stage, her casting as the "lead" singer should have been delegated to actress Amber A. Harris, who was by far the strongest vocalist among the cast!
Again, this is NOT to suggest that Ms. Ashley N. Jeffrey is not a good vocalist. The range and octaves in which the songs were written, were not APPROPRIATE for her particular range. This CLEARLY was a directing decision, and a very BAD ONE. It's all the audience talked about!
Act two was a total DISASTER, the story threads fell apart and the audience lost "focus" and became restless. The momentum and tempo took a NOSE DIVE in act two and most of the scenes were anti climatic.
At one point, the audience and myself could not decipher what was going on (and the pastor's gambling problem wasn't really addressed, nor the why it was presented as part of the story premise in the first place!)
Don't get me wrong, now! It was a good subplot to the premise-BUT IT WAS NOT EXPLAINED nor RESOLVED, therefore, making it anti climatic. The audience WANTED THAT ISSUE OF THE GAMBLING ADDRESSED! And it wasn't
The songs, although nice and entertaining, seemed "shoved into" the script as a 'fuller' and most audience members "held their breaths" when another 'song' was getting ready to "loom".
Anthony Davidson did a wonderful job in his design creation. It was functional, brief, and original. The combination with the lighting design by Antionette Tynes, and the sound by Derrick Minter, captured the imical illusion of a church and the daily rituals which occur therein.
This was an ambitious production, but clearly needs more work on the part of the playwright and the director.
This production receives ONE STAR.
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