[NEohioPAL] Berko review: CROWNS @ Karamu

[Roy Berko]

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CROWNS is a celebration of “hattitude,” at Karamu

Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)


CROWNS, now in production at Karamu Theatre, is a musical which not only
features gospel music, but takes a short meander into hip hop, while
featuring storytelling, dance and cultural history.  All of this centers on
the black female Southern community’s pride in their crowns, hats that have
been “bought and paid for and all they have to do is wear them.”  They wear
them with pride, understanding, and compassion.

Regina Taylor’s script, which is an adaptation of a book of photographs of
church-going African American women by Michael Cunningham and a collection
of oral histories by Craig Marberry, centers on Yolanda, a Brooklyn girl
with attitude, who is sent down South to live with her grandmother, Mother
Shaw, after her brother is murdered.  At first she rejects all things
Southern…religion, speech patterns, clothing styles, and the tales of the
women, who speak from experience about prejudice, discrimination, sit-ins,
and how it took the civil rights movement to “get hats off their heads.”

The stories told range from an undertaker figuring out how to accommodate a
dead woman’s wearing her favorite hat in her coffin to familial stories to
the role of the church, faith, emotional support, and pastor, in the lives
of these woman.  Through a tapestry of music, dance, singing and spoken
voices of the women in her grandmother’s life, we observe the once negative
Yolanda transcend her previous attitude and accept her place in her own
culture.

Yolanda transitions from a baseball-cap-wearing “New Yowka,” to a reluctant
hat wearing girl, to a person who has been taught the “hat queen rules” of
etiquette.  She is embraced by the community, deals with her sadness and
longing, and allows the traditions of her ancestors, as exemplified by the
church women, to carry her through to baptism, her show of acceptance of
the traditions.

Yolanda’s journey is summarized in her emotional speech, “The more I study
Africa, the more I see that African Americans do very African things
without even knowing it.  Adorning the head is one of these things . . .
whether it’s the intricate braids or the distinct hairstyles or the
beautiful hats we wear on Sundays.  We know inside that we’re queens.  And
these are the crowns we wear.”

The strength of Karamu’s production, which is under the direction of
Terrence Spivey, with musical direction by Sharolyn Ferebee, is the
singing.  Though sometimes the overly loud drumming drowns out the singers,
the voices are strong, the song interpretations often inspiring, and the
dancing nicely integrated into the staging.

A strong acting and vocal performance by Joyce Linzy, as Mother Shaw,
well-keyed humor and dynamic singing by Cherlie McElroy-Burch, and nuanced
characterizations by Christina Johnson and Nina Jones-Respress, help
develop the concept.

Jonah Lathan and Dominique Paramour nicely interpret the modern dance
interludes.  Nathan Lilly has a strong singing voice and does a nice job of
developing each of the multiple characters he portrays, especially the
Bible-thumping preacher.

Unfortunately, though she has some nice moments, Imani Jackson doesn’t
display the acting depth to develop the needed attitude adjustment of
Yolanda.

The staging is often confusing.  Straight lines, performers blocking each
other from the view of the audience, and some questionable vignette
interpretations, draw away from the many strengths of the script.

The intermissionless production, which runs a little under two hours, could
have used some faster pacing and the script cut as the stories and dance
make their point long before the final blackout.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  CROWNS tells an important story of perseverance and
faith among the women of the Southern African American community, as
represented by their “hatitude.”  The Karamu production, which has some
strong performances, is somewhat tarnished by some directorial decisions,
but is worth seeing.

CROWNS continues through June 16 at Karamu, 2355 East 89th Street, which
has a fenced, guarded and lighted parking lot adjacent to the theatre, and
provides free parking.  For ticket information call 216-795-7077.

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