[NEohioPAL] Berko review: "Ancestra" @ CPT

[Roy Berko via NEohioPAL]

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*“We’ve come a long way baby”—no, not quite…ANCESTRA @ CPT*



Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association & Cleveland Critics Circle)



Watching Cleveland Public Theatre’s ANCESTRA is both an enlightening and a
depressing experience.  Depressing in that the play adds yet another layer
to the still on-going tale of the fight for women’s equality in what was
and in many ways still is a conservative white man’s world.  In spite of
progress, such issues as gender equity, equal pay for equal work, women’s
health care and reproductive rights are still lagging.  Yes, women now have
the right to vote, own property, aren’t regarded legally as possessions,
and can get advanced collegiate degrees (even though some fields are still
generally closed to females).



Enlightening, especially to those who know little about the rights
movements in this country,  the rights of women, blacks and
homosexuals/transgendered persons.   Unfortunately, those who really needed
to get the edification probably won’t attend the play.  It would be too
threatening to their closed minds and unbending beliefs.



The National Women’s Rights Convention was a series of annual meetings that
brought visibility to the women’s rights movement in the United States.  The
first convention was held in 1850, in Worcester, Massachusetts.  That
session attracted men and women who were advocates for temperance,
abolition and suffrage for women.



As one of the speaker’s stated, “I conceive that the first thing to be done
by the women of this country is to demand their political enfranchisement.
Among the ‘self-evident truths’ announced in the Declaration of
Independence is this – ‘All government derives its just power from the
consent of the governed.’”



“Ancestra,” which is now in production at Cleveland Public Theater, is a
play by Holly Holsinger, Chris Seibert, Renee Schilling and Sally Groth
that was inspired by the 1853 National Women’s Rights Convention held in
Cleveland.



At that convention, in a letter read aloud, the Reverend William Henry
Channing, a leader of the Christian socialism movement, suggested that “the
convention issue its own Declaration of Women’s Rights and petitions to
state legislatures seeking woman suffrage, equal inheritance rights, equal
guardianship laws, divorce for wives of alcoholics, tax exemptions for
women until given the right to vote, and the right to trial before a jury
of female peers.”



The authors have creatively woven flashes from the past with instances of
the present to create an effective portrayal of their message “to celebrate
those who came before and champions of current efforts to achieve dignity
and justice.”



Interesting to locals, who tend to be proud that Oberlin College was the
first institution of higher learning to admit women, is a segment which
indicates that their education afforded women was not parallel or equal to
those given to men.  The women were restricted as to the courses they were
allowed to take, how they were treated, and the need to hide in the woods
to be able to speak their minds and just not be sponges in the classroom.



The play is well staged by Holly Holsinger in a creative setting designed
by Aaron Benson.  An inner proscenium consisting of twigs and trees, with
platforms for portraying various places, providing a pleasing and practical
acting space.  Having those from the past always in the background, and
vise versa added much to creating the image of the past as it affects the
present.



The cast is excellent.  Special kudos to Chris Seibert as Cora, a modern
day reporter who fights to continue the assault on tradition to make for
continued changes to help the cause of women through the power of activism.




Anne McEvoy does a nice transition from the stern administrator at Oberlin
to Cora’s caring mother.  Rhoda Rosen, as the emblem of elderly women, is
endearing.  Katy Lynn Patterson is excellent as the educationally
frustrated Lucy.



As is often the case in the CPH theatre, being able to hear the actors is a
problem.  The high ceiling, open fly gallery and distance between the
audience and the stage makes for echoes and a loss of projection.  Since
the production I saw was a preview, I don’t know if several of the females,
who were very difficult to hear due to a lack of projection, improved
during regularly scheduled productions.



*Capsule judgement:  “Ancestra” is a well written play that gets an
excellent production at Cleveland Public Theatre.  It is a story that needs
to be told.  It should be seen by everyone who assumes that the rights
movements…the march for equality for women, blacks and homosexuals, have
completed their tasks.  Kudos!*



 “Ancestra” runs through June 7, 2014  at Cleveland Public Theatre.  For
tickets call 216-631-2727 or go on line to www.cptonline.org.



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