YELLOWMAN by Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Weyni Mengesha, with Ordena and Dean Marshall (Nightwood/Obsidian). At Berkeley Street Theatre (26 Berkeley). Previews begin Saturday (October 31), opens Wednesday (November 4) and runs to November 14, Monday-Saturday 8 pm, matinees Wednesday 1:30 pm and Saturday 2 pm. $20-$45, Monday pwyc, previews $25. 416-955-0101. See listing.
The tragedy at the heart of Yellowman arises from shadism, the idea that light-toned blacks are superior to those with darker skins.[rssbreak]
“It’s a concept that goes back to slavery days,” explains Ordena with a compelling, quiet energy. She plays Alma in Dael Orlandersmith’s play, a co-production with Obsidian Theatre and part of Nightwood’s 4×4 Festival.
“There were the field niggers and the house niggers the lighter you were, the more privilege you seemed to have.
“That fight between light- and dark-complexioned people in my culture is very real.”
Yellowman, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, follows the linked histories of South Carolina natives Alma and Eugene, he lighter than she. Reaching back three generations, the play tracks the attitudes that narrow the young people’s lives with the inevitability of Greek tragedy.
“I love the poetic nature of the piece, the layers and colours of the material,” offers the performer. “I can see everything she’s trying to portray she repeats words and phrases to bring out nuances in the material, almost in a Shakespearean sense.”
Though on the page the text resembles a series of monologues, director Weyni Mengesha and her two actors are working to create a sense of dialogue as the performers take on multiple roles.
“At the start of the show, Alma recounts an event from 20 years before, but to do that she has to set up her legacy, talking about her mother, grandmother and women like them. This is who they were, she suggests, and that’s why I am who I am.”
As children, Alma and Eugene had no thoughts about the differences between them, but others teach them lessons about colour, shade and class.
“Still, there’s a strength to Alma,” says Ordena, whose stage work includes The Real McCoy and both the theatrical and TV versions of ‘da kink in my hair. “From the get-go, she realizes that people are really defined by their heart other things don’t matter to her.
“She dreams of a different life in New York and follows that dream, but she can’t fully let go of her mother, Odelia’s, story. Odelia’s legacy is that of someone defined by her darkness, her ugliness, her poverty she’s become hardened, accepts what she’s been given, but hopes her daughter will do better with Eugene.”
The work is intense, its language harsh, resonant and hard-hitting.
“There’s no sugar-coating around the ideas. As an actor, you have to go to those places and draw from what you can for all the characters you create.
“I hope people leave the show with a sense of open-mindedness and compassion. We go through life unconscious in so many ways of the impact of words and preconceptions. Maybe we can’t change people’s opinions, but I hope they’ll walk in the world with a new awareness.”
jonkap@nowtoronto.com
