Review: CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY Plays at Celebration Arts

When I heard that Celebration Arts was performing a Lynn Nottage play, I knew I had to be there. My first experience with her work was last year seeing Clyde’s at Capital Stage. I was struck by the characters and how they interacted with each other. They were all multi-faceted and so human, filled with joy and flaws. Celebration Arts’ selection, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, is set in a different place and time, yet equally complex.

Imani Mitchell skillfully directs this poignant coming-of-age piece for Celebration Arts. She’s no stranger to Nottage’s work, and that familiarity comes through in the way the actors navigate their characters’ relationships. Nevaeh Bouie is Ernestine Crump, a teenage girl who has recently moved to Brooklyn in the 1950s with her father, Godfrey Crump (James Ellison III), and her younger sister, Ermina (Gianna Bennett). They girls are still reeling from the death of their mother and Godfrey is feeling adrift and desperate to give them all a sense of normalcy. Under the guise of helping out, their late mother’s aunt moves in. Lily Ann Green, played by Latasha Burleson-Banks, shakes up the Crump family’s simple existence with judgment, activism, and a heaping helping of alcohol. Ernestine narrates their journey from her responsible oldest daughter perch: her father’s unhealthy obsession with a charlatan, her sister’s rebellious nature, and a new white stepmother, Gerte (Shelby Saumier). She’s also managing her own emotions…she has dreams beyond being a baker like her father and wants to make a change in the racism she encounters every day. She tries to abide by “virtue, victory, and virginity” and, for a young woman, she does it pretty well. The Crump family is mending, one day at a time, and we have the feeling that they’ll be just fine.

James Ellison III, who is also the Artistic Director of Celebration Arts, is a sympathetic Godfrey. He’s believable as a man who has just lost his wife and has to take on everything she used to do. Bouie’s performance steps it up to proudly inhabit the role of the woman of the house. She’s serious, malleable, and, ultimately, triumphant. Her monologues are heartfelt and sincere, lending credence to her shifting interests as she matures throughout the play. Sass, thy name is Gianna Bennett! I loved Bennett’s take on the selfish and flighty Ermina. She is fun. Also fun is Burleson-Banks, whose Aunt Lily is drop-dead gorgeous (and knows it), opportunistic, and not altogether honest. Rounding out this stellar cast is Shelby Saumier as Gerte. She oozes patience and a comforting aura. Her character is one of my favorites and gives the show an air of hope.

Crumbs from the Table of Joy is one you don’t want to miss. It plays at Celebration Arts through November 3rd. For tickets and more information, visit celebrationarts.net.

Photo credit: Mitchell Weitzman

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