In the News
Lexingtonians know that
anytime you see droves of people walking
westward downtown, they are probably headed to
Rupp Arena. Downtown dwellers might have blinked
twice Sunday to see a large crowd streaming not
toward Rupp but to the Lexington Opera House.
The large theater nearly
filled to capacity for the Kentucky premiere,
and one-night-only performance, of Gee's Bend,
a play based on the real lives of a group of
black women in Gee's Bend, Ala., who overcame
prejudice and poverty by successfully selling
homemade quilts to high-end retailers in the
Northeast. Covering periods from 1939 to 2002,
the production chronicles the life of one such
quilter, Sadie Pettway, as critical moments in
her life coincide with key events in the
national struggle for civil rights.
Presented by Agape Theater
Troupe in conjunction with the Roots and
Heritage Festival, Gee's Bend
intermittently incorporates traditional
African-American gospel singing alongside the
show's three-act narrative. Carefully measured
direction, elegantly streamlined use of design
elements and a cast of strong singers refining
their acting chops are hallmarks of this
educational and inspiring play.
With director Deb Shoss at
the helm, the show's even, pleasant pacing
easily sweeps the audience into the world of
Sadie (Sylvia Howard), her sister Nella (Cathy
Rawlings) and their mother, Alice (Carolyn
Garner). The actresses deserve praise for
cultivating a chemistry that smacks of everyday
relatedness. Inside jokes peppered with
well-meaning, playful digs weave throughout
heavier-themed dialogues, humanizing the
family's plight while underscoring the
tight-knit relationships prevalent among black
women in Gee's Bend.
Howard, who has appeared
in several area musicals, gets a chance to flex
her acting muscles, and the result is promising.
Her performance defines the momentum of the
show, particularly in the dark and violent
events of the play's climactic second act. Her
most effective moments are those of inner
conflict — whether to drink from the whites-only
fountain, whether to obey her husband and stay
home or follow her conviction to attend the
march on Selma. These are potent moments,
critical turning points in Sadie's life, and
Howard owns them.
Rawlings and Garner's
harmony accompaniment during the musical
components of the show are haunting and moving.
As supporting characters, Rawlings gets the rare
chance to play the comic relief. Her Nella is
fun, goofy and endearing. Garner is full of
practical wisdom and restrained encouragement.
Jeremy Gillett turns in a
zesty, energetic performance as Sadie's suitor
and later husband, Macon. Determined to own his
own land and home, Macon cannot accept in Sadie
what he has claimed for himself: the pursuit of
freedom. When Sadie wants to hear the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. speak, register to vote
and march on Selma, Macon cruelly forbids her.
Gillett's performance is solid, but Macon's
transition to bad guy seems to come out of
nowhere. Perhaps this is due to playwright
Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder's emphasis on the
female roles at the expense of others.
Drawing from the richly
colored hues typical of the Gee's Bend quilts,
Todd Pickett's set and lighting designs are
carefully edited and executed, framing some of
the show's more poignant moments.
Playful and heavy hitting,
Gee's Bend is more than just a
significant production for Agape Theatre Troupe,
it is a fitting tribute to the women whose
quilts and songs leave an enduring legacy of
perseverance and hope.
Gee’s Bend is about much more than quilts
by Rich Copley
Asia (Samantha Johnson), Sadie (Sylvia Howard) and Nella
(Cathy Rawlings) are overjoyed to see their quilts hung in a major
museum in "Gee's Bend." Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo
Deb Shoss was excited about Gee’s Bend, a
play about the legendary quilters of rural Alabama. But Cathy Rawlings
was skeptical to the point of indifference.
“I thought, ‘I don’t want to do a play about a
bunch of little old ladies quilting,’” says Rawlings, a Lexington
actress and founder of Agape Theatre Troupe.
Shoss, who had previously directed Rawlings in
plays for Agape Theatre Troupe and Actors Guild of Lexington, agrees. “I
wouldn’t have come out of my house for that,” she says.
But “little old ladies quilting” is far from a
fair description of Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder’s Gee’s Bend, as
Rawlings soon found out.
The group’s quilts, now considered masterpieces of
modern art, frame a struggle for survival and perseverance by the women
of the town of Gee’s Bend, who, like African-American people everywhere
in early and mid-20th-century America, had to endure pervasive and
institutional racism.
The story of the 2007 play, which has
one performance by Agape Theatre Troupe at the Lexington Opera House on
Sunday, focuses on some of the women of Gee’s Bend, from their
childhoods to realizing dreams too wild for their imaginations.
They made these quilts to keep them warm,” Shoss
says. “And then, when they got too raggedy, they’d use them as mops, and
when they were too raggedy for mops, they’d burn them to smoke out
mosquitoes.”
Rawlings says what ultimately drew her into the
story were the women and their struggles to overcome society and, in
some cases, their own husbands.
For
instance, the central character of Sadie, played by Sylvia Howard, is
baptized at the beginning of the show and marries Macon, played by
Jeremy Gillett, who has managed to gain the security of land and a
house.
Young Sadie (Sylvia Howard) is about to be baptized by
the preacher (Rev. Willis G. Polk) at the beginning of "Gee's Bend."
But Sadie wants her rights, too, and later in her
marriage, her desire to march with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. comes
into direct conflict with Macon’s plea not to rock the boat.
Shoss discovered there was a play about Gee’s Bend
while visiting Atlanta. She had seen a documentary, The Quilts of Gee’s
Bend, “so I knew what it was about,” she said.
She contacted the playwright about presenting the
show and learned it was being published by Samuel French Inc. But French
had not printed it yet, so Agape couldn’t get it. That was OK, to an
extent, because Shoss still had to sell Rawlings on the show.
“I’d drop by Deb’s house after work for something
else, and she’d say, ‘Just read the first scene,’” says Rawlings, who
plays Sadie’s sister, Nella.
Like Shoss, Rawlings was won over by the Gee’s
Bend documentary.
The actors eventually were so compelled by the
story that they went to south-central Alabama to visit the women of
Gee’s Bend. Rawlings was the first to knock on the door of one of the
quilters’ homes.
“Gee’s Bend is a special place,” Rawlings says.
“When you get off the ferry, you feel an aura there.”
Earlier this month, a few Gee’s Bend quilters
visited Lexington and a rehearsal of the play.
The show not only commemorates a place the cast
and crew have fallen in love with, it is also a big step forward for
Agape Theatre Troupe. Previously, the group has performed at smaller
venues, including the Imani Family Life Center, where it is based. But
with Gee’s Bend, the theater took the step of performing in the 866-seat
Lexington Opera House.
“It’s an important step for us, and it’s an
important show,” Rawlings says.
Shoss adds, “We put it there because people need
to see it.”
Business Lexington
September 17, 2009
by Tom Musgrave
Gee's Bend Stitches together pieces of history
Lexington,
KY - Producing a play about actual events in history, events in
which several of the participants are still alive, is an awesome
responsibility. When those events center on the civil rights movement in
America, the importance of delivering an honest performance is
paramount.
The weight of that responsibility is not lost on Lexington's Agape
Theatre Troupe as the ensemble prepares for its upcoming production of
"Gee's Bend," one of several events highlighting Lexington's 20th annual
Roots and Heritage Festival.
The story spans 61 years, with scenes in 1931, 1965 and 2002. It is set
in the real-life town of Gee's Bend, Ala., and centers on three women:
Sadie Pettway (played by Sylvia Howard); her mother, Alice (Carolyn
Garner); and her sister, Nella (Cathy Rawlings). Jeremy Gillett as
Sadie's husband, Macon, and Samantha Johnson as Sadie's daughter, Asia,
round out the five-member cast.
Sadie stands in stark contrast to her sister, Nella. While Nella dreams
of marrying a rich man and settling down in Birmingham, Sadie educates
herself, learns the craft of quilting, and develops a strong social
conscience, especially regarding the civil rights movement. During one
of the scenes set in 1965, Sadie, following the example set by Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. during a visit to Gee's Bend, drinks from a
white-only water fountain in Camden, a town directly across the Alabama
River from Gee's Bend. When a curious Nella asks her what the water was
like, Sadie replies that it tastes "like a little piece of heaven."
Quilting plays a significant role in the play, and similarly, the actual
Gee's Bend is renowned for its quilts. For a long time, the women of
Gee's Bend fashioned quilts from whatever material they could get —
leftover fabric that had been thrown out by other people or even old
garments belonging to deceased family members. The concept of waste was
alien to them, especially if they had children who needed to be kept
warm on cold winter nights. Every scrap of material mattered.
Although they were purely functional, there was artistry and
architecture to them, and in 1998 collector William Arnett traveled to
Gee's Bend, bought several quilts, and put them on display in his art
gallery.
"(The quilters) touched people in a way no other kind of art had.
They've traveled the country," said production director Deb Shoss, who
visited Gee's Bend with cast member and Agape Theatre Troupe President
Cathy Rawlings. "These women have been lauded as artists, and they never
would have heard the word 'art.' Everything at the most basic level
constituted what they needed to live."
"I am so excited about being able to expose that part of our culture to
the rest of the African-American community and to all of us here in
Central Kentucky," Rawlings said.
Quilting is a rite of passage for the real-life women of Gee's Bend, and
in the play the quilts figure prominently, almost to the point where
they are characters themselves, offering their warmth in moments of joy
and comfort in moments of tragedy, all the while serving as the thread
that ties the story together.
Playwright Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder encapsulates 61 years into a
one-hour and 40-minute one-act play. Lexington theater veteran Deb
Shoss, director of Agape's production of "Gee's Bend," said the cast has
been up to the challenge.
"These people are incredibly talented. I've worked with most of these
cast members before and they have simply wonderful imaginations and they
are emotionally available, as all the fine actors of the world are,"
Shoss said. "They've really set their minds to it and accomplished
everything we're going for."
The May visit to Gee's Bend was particularly helpful in making the
production as honest as possible. Shoss said it helped give her
direction.
"It was an absolute revelation," Shoss said of the visit. "People don't
often get to do a theater piece about living people. It's either fiction
or it's historical and the people are dead. I've never come across a
play before about people who are alive right now. It just doesn't seem
to happen very often.
"In order to bring the most truth to it, you have to get the help of the
people it's about, if it's possible," Shoss said. "Fortunately, they're
not far away."
Lexington Herald-Leader, September 1, 2009
southern part of the state that
is surrounded on three sides by
the Alabama River. Mules from
Gee's Bend pulled the casket
bearing the remains of the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr.