Sharon Carter Brown as Aunt Ester. Photo courtesy Arena Players, Inc.
When the Baltimore August Wilson Celebration was announced last week, the project was already off to a head-start. Arena Players had already planned “Gem of the Ocean” for their 70th season. The production opened last weekend, and with it, the playwright’s Century Cycle revival in Baltimore is officially underway.
Sharon Carter Brown shows herself to be an immeasurable talent…This ‘Gem’ is the finest, most polished production we’ve seen at Arena Players in a long time.
“Gem of the Ocean” is a fitting start, as the play is Wilson’s first of the cycle chronologically. It is set in his hometown of Pittsburgh, in the year 1904. It takes place in the home of Aunt Ester, a wise and mysterious dowager. Living with her are Eli and Black Mary. Any time there’s a knock at the door, Eli answers it by cautioning the visitor “this is a peaceful house.” The statement is ironic in context, as much of the play deals unflinchingly with the violent legacy of forced movement and forced immobility of Black people in the United States.
Aunt Ester, a role performed by Sharon Carter Brown, carries the weight of history. Thanks to Brown’s portrayal, she does so with nearly as much humor as gravity. “Gem” is a very heavy play and a rather long one, at nearly three hours, so it is a great relief to report that Brown and her castmates are positively sparkling in their service to the wit of Wilson’s words, as well as their gravity. Eli (Rysheem McGirt) and his friend, Solly Two Kings (William A. Walker), are old men who had once worked on the Underground Railroad. When Solly’s sister in Alabama writes to say that her community is being forcibly blocked from joining the Northern Migration, Solly plans a return trip to free his people all over again. A visitor to Ester’s house, Citizen Barlow (Isaiah Evans), appears holding a heavy weight of guilt and desperation. He’d been told that Aunt Ester possessed the ability to cleanse souls, and he won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Black Mary’s (Nikki Scroggins) brother is Cesar Wilks (Evan Carrington). He’s the local bigwig. Well-to-do from a variety of retail and real estate scams, Cesar is also the law. Completing the group of seven characters is Rutherford Selig (Richard Peck), a kindly and resourceful merchant who sells kitchenware and building materials door-to-door. This group functions as a well-rounded ensemble. Directed by Donald Owens, they provide strength and deliberate intention at every turn. Both Wilson’s script and Owens’ direction demand individual performances that are able to stand on their own, what with the author’s well-known penchant for speechifying. This group of actors proves much more than capable of that feat. Each of them shines brightly when it’s their turn. As a group, they pull together with great force and energy.
Ultimately, though, it’s clear that the stage belongs to Brown in this piece. Aunt Ester is the sun around whom the other characters orbit, and Sharon Carter Brown shows herself to be an immeasurable talent. Her work in this production is mystical, yet distinctly human. When Ester says “Being lonely is hard when there’s so many people around,” we laugh at the irony but immediately understand what she means. Isaiah Evans, too, deserves singling out for his wonderful work in the role of Citizen Barlow. There’s a painstakingly slow burn to the reveal of what Barlow has weighing on him, and Evans gives us just enough crumbs of insight to keep us wondering. When it’s time for the payoff, Evans is electric. Walker, as Solly Two Kings, is fully aware that his character’s function leans toward being the comic foil (Walker does that extremely well) but the playwright saved some juicy bits of serious drama for Solly, and Walker’s efforts in those late moments grab the audience by their throats. Scroggins, as Black Mary, is immediately recognizable as the strong, young woman Wilson always reveres and features. In the role of her brother, Carrington makes Cesar the perfect Wilson villain.
There will be mixed opinions about the pacing of Owens’ direction of this production. The play is long, yes, and there are stretches in which things will feel a bit slow to some, perhaps. But the material being unpacked here deserves plenty of room to breathe. A rapid-fire presentation, one imagines, would only steamroll the humanity of the piece. This “Gem” is the finest, most polished production we’ve seen at Arena Players in a long time.
Running Time: Two hours and 40 minutes with one 15-minute intermission.
Advisory: Contains profanity, including use of the “N” word.
“Gem of the Ocean” runs through April 28, 2024 at Arena Players, 801 McCulloh Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. For more information and to purchase tickets, go online.
