Adding another excellent play to his 19th Century Collection of works about the American Black experience, playwright and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre founder/producing director Mark Clayton Southers has painted a beautiful and moving portrait with the world premiere of “Art of Wise,” running through May 4 at the Madison Arts Center in the Hill District.
The play pulls theatergoers into the world of a Mobile, Ala., plantation in 1822, into the lives of two families, one enslaved — Bendoo (Sheldon Ingram), Oni (Karla C. Payne), Amahle (Adjoa Opoku-Dakwa) and Albert (Justus A. Payne) — and one of their owners, Jonathan (Joseph McGranaghan), Sarah (Jenny Malarkey) and Samantha (Maddie Kocur). They share the surname “Wise” but not much else, as the contrast between them is drawn on each side of the stage.
Samantha is hectored by her mother into learning to paint, but she has no passion or imagination for art, unlike Amahle, who creates beautiful paintings of flowers that Samantha passes off as her own.
Bendoo was kidnapped from Africa and brought to the United States as part of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, as was his wife, Oni. As the story unspools, he begins to see his daughter’s talent as his loved ones’ ticket to freedom. But a clash between the two families will change the course of everyone’s lives.
In many ways, “Art of Wise” is a story about erasure — of the talent and creative work, faith, culture, names (it’s notable that the white characters refer to Amahle as “Emily”) and even the physical bodies of the Black characters. In the play’s two hours and 15 minutes, the audience truly gets to know these two families and the way one will always attempt to paint over the other. It’s a framework that, frustratingly, resonates through the decades and strikes a chord with modern audiences.
Director Monteze Freeland’s ability to pull such effective performances from a dynamic and riveting cast, as well as visualize this slice of history, really makes this play something special. The vividly contrasting set design by Tony Ferrieri was a plus, too, dividing the stage between the homes of the two families and showing the differences in their living spaces and the interactions that occur within each. Lighting designer Latrice Lovette was a star, as well, especially with the added colorful dreaminess of the lighting during a pair of fantasy sequences toward the end of act one.
The play’s costumes (by designer Cheryl El Walker) made the characters’ wealth divide apparent while fitting in perfectly with the time period, and a pair of musicians, drummer Zosha Nowe and violinist Yanna Mavrogeorgis (sharing the role with Em Kohut-Kegarise in other performances), also brought a musical dimension to the two halves of the stage.
There is one character I haven’t mentioned yet, house slave Campie (David Minniefield). His internal struggles and story make him one of the play’s most surprisingly interesting roles. Minniefield comes alive in the role in the second act.
Ingram, a WTAE reporter, was such a warm and forceful presence as Bendoo, especially during the character’s funniest moments. Watching him interact with his children was heartwarming and heartbreaking, and he brought a solid sincerity to the role. Karla C. Payne’s Oni carried equal passion in scenes of joy and sorrow, and Justus A. Payne portrays the young Albert with vivacity and care.
Opoku-Dakwa steals the show, shining in scenes between Amahle and Bendoo and leaving me an emotional wreck after her show-closing monologue (and I know I wasn’t alone). Her almost-friendly, almost-antagonistic chemistry with the charming Kocur was one of the play’s most enjoyable aspects.
Joseph McGranaghan was perfectly hateable as the haughty and time-period-realistically-sadistic slaveowner Jonathan. And Malarkey gets the chance to really let loose as the dramatic but surprisingly steady Southern belle Sarah, but she still feels realistic and grounded, glimmering in her scenes with McGranaghan.
“Art of Wise” is a joy to watch and an important slice of history that deserves viewing from all angles; like a lovely painting, its layers, broad strokes and details beg to be enjoyed, and the context of its origin examined. Mark Clayton Southers has delivered a fresh masterpiece.
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company’s “Art of Wise” will run through May 4 at the Madison Arts Center in the Hill District. For tickets, visit pghplaywrights.org.