Theatre Review: Eve’s Song Sings To America’s Ghosts At Public Theater

Eve’s Song is one of the most important plays of the season, especially for our current. violent times. When it comes to police brutality against the black community, rhetoric is divided. As if the taking of a life for laughing, for sitting in their living room, for driving their girlfriend, or selling CD’s in front of a corner store is a matter of debate. Yet, when a person is black, it is treated as a discussion: the cop vs. the skin. In Eve’s Song, you are reminded that, ultimately, it is human versus human being.

As a giant, literal crack begins to grow in the wall, thanks to the scenic design of Riccardo Hernandez, as the Johnsons are confronted by cracks within the family and themselves. Like every individual, each member is trying to figure out whether they are or can be happy. It is in this dilemma that writer Patricia Ione Lloyd builds the Johnsons universal humanity. They are terrified that their life will be of no meaning to themselves and this world, which every soul questions as they live. Yet, there is an added issue to their fundamental, human challenge; they are black.

It is hard for anyone to feel safe, loved, and sufficient in this world, but when you are black, you have s system, a history, and a society that can be defended for assuring you feel none of those things. Such a dynamic, explains the overbearing, but tragic character of Deborah (De’Adre Aziza). She is funny, smart, strong, and loving, but she is also ignorant, flawed, stubborn, and even cruel. Aziza makes Deborah the walking paradox of humanity, but she can never fully embrace her inner lightness or confront her inner darkness because being a black woman. in America. commands you to have a higher standard of being. In essence, you truly have to be perfect to appear non-threatening, which is why she maneuvers her family so intensely, especially her daughter Lauren (Kadijah Raquel).

Raquel makes Lauren so bright and young, you fall in lover for her as she falls in love with Ashley D. Kelley (Upendo). Kelley has a hilarious, mesmerizing presence that shows you why Lauren falls for her firm spirit. Lauren is seeking an inner center as accepts she is a black lesbian in America. She is entering multiple, discriminated territories, but is not questioning whether she should enter. She does not doubt who she is, which makes her refreshing amongst the journeys you watch throughout the play. Instead, she is trying to find out who she is as her mother and even her brother, the bitingly witty Mark (Karl Green), hide it. As she arises and they, emotionally, sink, hilarity ensues with Lloyd draping her manuscript with humor. Yet, self-discovery can, often, be a tragic process.

Fear begins to build throughout the 110 minute play. What was once an inner panic begins to become a outer, combatively visible terror; can I be happy in this world? Can I be happy, as a black person, in a world that justifies police brutality or hides the murders of black women as unworthy news? Directed by Jo Bonney, Eve’s Song can have some The Conjuring elements, with ghosts constantly roaming around: awaiting to tell their story. Yet, their real life tales of death are not simply at the hands of officers, but also of racists, sexists, or people who thought they could take their life and get aways with it. Unfortunately, they all did. Kathryn Johnston (Vernice Miller), Kerrice Lewis (Rachel Watson-Jih), and Amia Tyrae (Tamara M. Williams) were their names, and these actors brief portrayal of their brief deaths leaves a lasting impression.

Eve’s Song is absolutely excellent because violence is often a dreaded discussion. Eye rolls ricochet at the very idea of discussing police brutality, hate crimes, violence against women/ trans women, and the lack of proper or any media attention for such homicides. When we blame the victims even after their death, it is because we did not see them as having a life. Yet, Eve’s Song is about their life, and the gut-wrenching question of whether they were or could have been happy. For More Information Eve’s Song, playing at the Public Theater, till December 8 Click Here.