Curtains Up Theater Review by Camille Bounds: “Gem of the Ocean” challenges audience with painful perspective of the past
“This entire cast is superb in their field and carry this heavy, dark production to the highest level.”
Aunt Ester (Greta Oglesby) shares her past with Citizen (Edward Ewell), Black Mary (Porscha Shaw), and Eli (Jerome Preston Bates) in “Gem of the Ocean,” presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley April 6 – May 1, 2022. Photo Credit: Kevin Berne
By Camille Bounds
Camille Bounds
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s “Gem of the Ocean” is a brutally honest play of the past that holds an important message for our turbulent times.
A stunning cast delivers August Wilson’s words with a stinging reality of the pain of history, painting a poignant picture of the struggles and hopes of Black people in America across the centuries
Tim Bond’s direction takes the audience to a time and place that was not our shining hour but was part of our dark history that we have to live with and keep trying to override with a intelligence, sensibility and humanity we don’t always reach. With a sense of hope, a Black woman as our vice president and one recently elected to the United States Supreme Court is a move in the right direction.
Aunt Ester (Greta Oglebsy) takes Citizen (Edward Ewell) on a spiritual journey in “Gem of the Ocean.”
Photo Credit: Kevin Berne
The play is set in the early twentieth century. “Gem Of the Ocean” is a tale about the search for freedom and dignity by Black people who have been released from slavery into poverty and second-class citizenship. The story focuses on what happens at the home of Aunt Ester (a mesmerizing Greta Ogleby), a Black woman who has the ability to reach back in time and heals with her psychic ability. There is Eli (Jerome Preston Bates), her trusted companion, and Black Mary (Porscha Shaw), her housekeeper and friend, Solly Two Kings (Kim Sullivan), a onetime Underground Railroad guide. He shows us what it was like to be a part of that dangerous operation where runaway slaves traveled to the freedom in Canada. There is Caesar (Rodney Hicks – Black Mary’s brother ) who finds ways to take advantage of what is available to his advantage no matter the cost. And there is Rutherford Selig (Dan Hiatt), a white peddler who brings some affection and care to Aunt Ester. And then there is Citizen Barlow (Edward Ewell), who comes to this house, by sneaking in through a back window and who feels he needs Aunt Ester’s help in cleansing his soul for a crime he feels he committed.
All these characters at first seem confusing. But they all eventually meld into the plot that takes us back to the past and returns us to the present with a new perspective of what history can teach us. This entire cast is superb in their field and carry this heavy, dark production to the highest level.
“Gem Of The Ocean” is more than a stage production. It’s a true experience that will stay with you for a long while.
Gem Of The Ocean
Where: The Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View
When: Closes Sunday May 1, 2022
Running Time: Three Hours
Tickets start at $30. Savings available for seniors and educators.
To order tickets visit Theatreworks.org or Call 877 662-8978