Tiffany Williams is not just her character, Mercy; she is also a bear, a conja man and a little girl. Each of her characters moves and sounds distinct. Tracie Shaw as Oh Beah is a force. Christopher Roberts (Ezra) and Toshianna Gorens (Alma) find just the right mix of wisdom, authority, humor and tenderness. Joel Tinsley-Hall delivers a powerful soliloquy about being sold in a poker game and torn from his family that resonates in a way no history book ever can.
Meanwhile, direction by Funkenbusch and MacMurdo lets the story and the performances stand out. The stage is almost bare, covered only with a stone bench, a few logs and a glowing fire. The co-directors and their technical staff allow the story to come alive unobstructed by sets and props and effects. Five people on a stage might be hard to manage, but here they move about gracefully, creating an endless and evolving arrangement of beautiful tableaus.
I walked in to the opening night performance and found myself seated near a young black kid and an elderly white woman as part of a large audience. News like that seems to excite Woodard. “I want people to know what happened,” she says. “I need my nieces and nephews and godchildren to know because it will strengthen them like it strengthens me. We can overcome and if we open up our past even through something like a play, then we know we can carry on.” But most of all, Woodard hopes Flight will help history come alive. “I want people to remember,” she says. “I want people to know that it’s okay to look at. You don’t have to close your eyes.”
Interesting word choice by Woodard.
Normally, The Union Theater hosts a multimedia program entitled Lincoln’s Eyes that focuses on issues like slavery and how sorrow, hope and forgiveness are found in the eyes of Lincoln’s many photographs and portraits. Could there ever be a more perfect venue for Flight? On stage, Oh Beah, Nate and the others dig deep to find the strength to transcend the evils of slavery. And on the other side of the curtain, The Great Emancipator watches the show unfold.
Flight continues in the Union Theater March 24-27. Tickets and showtimes at 558- 8934 or www.alplm.org.
Zach Baliva is a filmmaker living in Springfield.
