BWW Reviews: PLAY TO WIN and MANDELA Promote Justice

The two shows I saw this weekend were centered around real life characters and spoke to civil rights and justice, but to two very different audiences. On Saturday I saw PLAY TO WIN at Birmingham Children's Theatre. It is about Jackie Robinson, the first black baseball player to play in the modern era of Major League baseball. Director Jen Nelson Lane tells this story in a way that makes the young audience feel the struggle, but not with a heavy hand. The direction the play takes is upbeat, with music and dance numbers, yet real with the angst felt by Robinson as he tries to keep his cool under enormous pressure. It is always great to watch the kids in the audience enjoy good theatre and we are fortunate to have such a good children's theatre in Birmingham.

The set is nicely designed and very versatile, the lighting is perfect to showcase different scenes and different characters, and the cast is extremely talented. Korey Wilson as Satchel Paige (and various other characters) serves as a narrator at times and sings with a voice that resonates throughout the theatre. Anytime there is a duet you are in for a treat, with beautiful harmonies.

I have to give an extra special shout out to Tierney Breedlove because when I went to see MANDELA today, there she was again. Not only is she playing Rachel Isum, Jackie Robinson's girlfriend and eventually his wife, as well as other characters in PLAY TO WIN, she also plays several parts in MANDELA.

MANDELA is a new creation presented by Red Mountain Theatre Company. Based on an original concept by director Keith Cromwell, MANDELA uses actual pictures and video footage, as well as live actors to tell the story of Nelson Mandela. With beautiful music set to an African beat and amazing singing by a fairly large cast, the music shares a message of hope. Toy Matthews definitely stood out to me in this production, singing with power and emotion.

While MANDELA is not specifically geared towards children, there were kids in the cast and in the audience. But I thought the kid oriented PLAY TO WIN felt grittier and brought forth more empathy for the characters involved and more outrage for the situations from this play-goer. I really felt Robinson's struggles and emotions, while I thought MANDELA moves too quickly to Mandela's release from prison and eventual triumph in becoming president of South Africa. Twenty seven years in prison is nothing to gloss over and the fact that Mandela came away from those long years ready to forgive and move forward has always been one of the most astounding things I have heard of. Although the show does have a section on his forgiveness, it did not move me like it should have.

Next weekend you can see the last public performance of PLAY TO WIN, as well as BCT's Wee Folk offering THE QUEEN OF HEARTS AND THE TERRIBLE TARTS. Contact www.bct123.org for ticket information. Unfortunately, MANDELA only ran for this one weekend, so if you have not seen it, you missed it! There is so much good and varied theatre in Birmingham, but you have to keep up. You can catch a movie on Netflix or eventually HBO, but live theatre is a fleeting thing, that must be caught at the right time. Don't miss out on all that this area has to offer.

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