"The Best of Enemies"
"The Best of Enemies" by Mark St. Germain, based on the book by Osha
Gray Davidson. Directed by Julianne Boyd. At Barrington Stage Company.
Black and white has been the issue of the season. This is the third
play in a series and, like the other two, it presents issues of the
mind, soul and heart to be experienced, witnessed and examined. Like
the other two it is a premiere of sorts, this time a world premiere.
And more so then ever before this summer, the topic of "gray" is the
subject at hand.
Luckily Julianne Boyd is adept at this shade of human experience. At
Barrington Stage, she has brought other shades of gray into luminous
being in the past: "Tea" was one such event; "West Side Story"
another; "Follies" even more brilliant than we had ever seen it
before. With "The Best of Enemies," she transforms the gray
neighborhood of southern race relations into precious silver. This
true story, brought dramatically to life by playwright Mark St.
Germain, is one that touches our senses of liberalism and tolerance
and decency, steals them from us and returns them in edible,
bite-sized pieces reconceived as hope, faith and humanity.
The story is simple: a hateful white man in Durham, N.C. -- C.P.
Ellis, grand cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan -- is confronted by Ann
Atwater, an uneducated, militant black woman on the issue of
desegregation of the Durham schools. She is mean; he is mean. He is
intolerant to the point of demanding a black man clean the knob of
his radio with an oil-soaked cloth just because he touched it. She is
intolerant in that no white man's opinion is to be considered, no
white man's touch is to be tolerated. He mouths off; so does she. She
threatens; he does likewise. He prefers an automatic weapon and she
has her shiv.
In about 98 minutes covering about three years in time plus an
epilogue closer to the present, these two people travel a vast amount
of space and time, a relative few inches, but they are as impressive
a journey as if they traveled a hundred million light years. It's a
remarkable journey piloted by a talented director with an engagingly
talented playwright co-pilot. With the aid of four remarkably good
actors, some music and a talented design team, this brief look at a
portion of our national history turns into moving drama evoking
sympathy, tears and just a few giant personal steps toward the
recognition of a single human race. In the words of Howard Dietz,
"that's entertainment."
Aisha Hinds plays Ann Atwater. In her hands, Ann is so very much a
living presence that Hinds' smiles at the curtain calls rendered her
virtually a stranger. In movement, stance, accent, posturing and
attitude, she was so very much a living breathing entity that it
really was hard to envision the woman in any other form. Hinds is a
stunning actress, a personage with the ability to completely inhabit
another body and mind. Her monologues and her scenes had equal
strength and credulity. Her stage accent never wavered or altered.
Only once, in a tender scene played in a hospital visiting room, did
her character become a more standard southern black mammy and then
only with a rationale beyond explaining: There was a need for Ann to
be something other than who she was and Hinds found her way into this
transition. Brilliant acting.
As C.P. Ellis, John Bedford Lloyd is easily the equal of his co-star
Hinds. Put an asterisk next to each descriptive accolade above, along
with an asterisk right here, and you have an honest appraisal of his
performance. Additionally, his scenes with the lovely Mary Ellis of
actress Susan Wands were touched with an unexpected tenderness. His
drunk scene and its ugly result were played with an undeconstructed
honesty that had an audience horrifyingly enthralled. Their
combination hush and gasp told the story. Lloyd also shares Hinds
ability to maintain a difficult accent without wavering and that
makes him so much more believable throughout.
As for Wands, her role has been underwritten. We see things and know
more about them much later. We hear things and the responses don't
echo any knowledge we've gotten and so they drift away. She is the
only supporting character in this play and we need more of her to
expect more from her.
On the other hand, Bill Riddick, an antagonizer/organizer played
wonderfully by Clifton Duncan, is a major character, not the
odd-man-out corner of a three-way relationship. He has come to Durham
to start the process of integration. He inadvertently turns into the
catalyst for a relationship that has no basis in reality. Duncan acts
with an ingenuousness that just suits his character to a tee. His
only weakness is his transition into old age in the final sequence.
Visually the production is a technical shoulder shrug: things keeps
moving and imagery is used to give historical and geographical
context to the scenes on panels that change their locations on the
stage. This design work is the step-child of David M. Barber, who
created the scenic look, and Scott Pinkney whose lighting design has
allowed everything to be visible as needed. Kristina Lucka's costumes
are an interesting collection of period clothing and recycled
curtains. Brad Berridge has done a remarkable job with his sound
design work, a theatrical show in itself.
It is Boyd, the director, who works all of this raw material -
script, designers, actors - into a seamless whole. She moves her
people through the mud of special effects to produce a powerful
relationship that no marriage can supercede, that no critical urge
can falter, no cynic disparage. This may well be her finest work to
date.
"The Best of Enemies" plays on the Mainstage at Barrington Stage
Company at the Union Street Theatre, just west of North Street in
Pittsfield through Aug. 6. For information and tickets call the box
office at 413-236-8888.