Review: BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY at Seattle Rep

Dear Readers, I’m all for a slice of life play showing the inequities in class, race, gender, etc. in the past and spotlighting how far we have not come.  Such a play is Pearl Cleage’s “Blues for an Alabama Sky”, currently playing at the Seattle Rep.  It’s not a new play; in fact it’s about 30 years old.  But it still packs in some resonance.  What it fails to pack in completely is much of an arc or ending for its characters.

The story follows some denizens of Harlem in the 1930’s.  Life is hard for Angel and Guy (Ayanna Bria Bakari and Jamar Jones), two best friends who barely manage to make a living, Angel as a local blues singer and Guy as a costume designer.  Their struggles stem not only from the great depression but also from the rampant racism, misogyny, and homophobia of era.  Life isn’t much better for their friends Sam (Yusef Seevers), a doctor at the local hospital, and Delia (Esther Okech Lewis), a woman trying to set up a clinic specializing in reproductive planning issues.  These two may have steadier paychecks but the inequalities of the country still plague them what with threats of violence for trying to help those in need.  But they all have their dreams, and those dreams seem closer than ever.  Enter a new handsome stranger, Leland (Ajax Dontavius), a conservative man from the south who’s taken a liking to the wild Angel.  Will he be the solution or the cause to their problems?

Cleage’s characters are likable and the situations resonant, but they come across as a bit static.  Each of them has their particular archetype, and they rarely waver or grow from that initial impression.  In fact, the arc of the characters seems almost non-existent making for a bit of an unsatisfying evening.  For a couple of the characters, I’m not even certain what became of them as their final moments were either not conveyed or confusing.  Sure, a slice of life play allows us to make our own inference as to where these characters go, but for these two especially, I didn’t feel the story at hand was complete.

The presentation of the piece is a stunner however, specifically with some wonderful pacing from director Valerie Curtis-Newton, and a killer set from Matthew Smucker.  This revolving piece manages, in a finite space, to house multiple rooms in an apartment building and an exterior without requiring big pauses for a scene change.  But the few changes that did require a moment or two were covered beautifully with some gorgeous blues trumpet solos live on stage from Grammy nominated Nathan Breedlove. 

The cast handles their roles with a grace and oodles of talent.  Bakari brings in a likable and still tragic woman who keeps coming up against obstacle after obstacle.  And the moments they have her sing are stunners.  Jones gives us a wonderful portrait of a dreamer who rarely wavers on that dream and who is certainly a force of nature.  Lewis is probably the most relatable character that an audience can latch onto, and she brings is a wonderful stability to these free spirits.  Seevers bubbles with a zest for life and love and while being a more stable, professional, he still retains that wildness.  And Dontavius seethes with an underlying menace that’s barely visible beneath his good guy persona.  Again, I just wish these characters could have been written with a bit more variance and depth and certainly with more of an arc.

The play is an interesting one and does shine a spotlight of the issues of the era and today, especially in regard to the issues they raise on reproductive rights.  And while I was engaged, I wasn’t blown away.  And so, with my three-letter rating system, I give “Blues for an Alabama Sky” at the Seattle Rep a somewhat shallow YAY-.  A beautiful portrait, but just a portrait without saying too much.

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