Having just seen my fifth August Wilson play, it’s safe to say that I’m not a fan. Even at his best (in my experience, The Piano Lesson), I find Wilson besotted with pithy monologs, his plots don’t especially engage me, and his supernatural touches leave me cold.
That’s a\the frame through which to read this review, because plenty of folk feel otherwise, as Wilson’s Tony and two Pulitzers amply testify. Long Beach Playhouse are such folk, as Gem of the Ocean is the fourth (or is it fifth?) stop on their way to completing the ten-play “Century Cycle.” If you, too, are a fan, the Playhouse should once again please you, even if they don’t bowl you over.
Pittsburgh, 1904. Black people from far and wide make their way to 1839 Wylie Ave. to see Aunt Ester (Daphne Jones), a former slave and font of African history and wisdom who cleanses the souls of those in need by transporting them to the City of Bones. Citizen Barlow (Asim Rashad) is such a supplicant, carrying as he does the guilt of indirectly causing the death of an innocent man. Meanwhile, a fire at the local tin mill has Caesar (Dan White) — a Black man attempting to navigate society’s racial injustice by working as the area’s chief lawman — snooping around for the arsonist.
Even by Wilson’s own standards there’s not much of a plot here, but considering the copious amount of stage time he cedes to monologs concerning neither plot nor character development, I guess we’re not supposed to mind. Presuming you don’t, you’re likely to be charmed by Daphne Jones, who imbues Aunt Ester’s sententiousness with sass. And she absolutely nails the play’s one great one-liner.
Deserving honorable mention among the cast is director Rovin Jay, who on opening night was forced to fill in for Deacon Hampton as Solly Two Kings due to illness. Despite being on-book, Jay’s performance was such that he would have been justified in casting himself in the role.
Jay achieves more mixed results as director. Overall the production feels a bit static, and its set piece never quite submerges us into Citizen’s hallucination. Then there’s the occasional missed detail, such as a moment of violence that is glaringly faux and a piece of paper that’s supposed to be 70 years old and yet is so new and crisp we can literally hear it being folded.
Nonetheless, fans of August Wilson are likely to come away satisfied enough to look forward to seeing what Long Beach Playhouse will do with the rest of the Century Cycle.
Gem of the Ocean at Long Beach Playhouse
Times: Fri–Sat 8:00 p.m., Sun 2:00 p.m. Sunday
The show runs through March 21.
Cost: $20 to $32
Details: (562) 494-1014; LBplayhouse.org
Venue: Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach