REVIEW: The Color Purple gets superb treatment it deserves at the Citadel
When I first saw the Broadway production of The Color Purple adapted from Alice Walker’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning best seller, I was unimpressed. As is often the way with Broadway, when they get their hands on an intimate story they produce the living daylights out of it. Walker’s tale is certainly a decade-spanning epic but at its heart it’s a simple tale of Celie, an abused woman, and her life-long journey to find love and belief in herself. That spirit was lost in an ungainly and overblown production that smothered the central character in large production numbers, fancy costumes, gaudy sets and a smug sense of self-satisfaction.
Happily, the visually sumptuous production currently playing at the Citadel Theatre gets it right.
Much of the credit should be given to the remarkable Kimberley Rampersad as director – the first female black director of this essential story of black empowerment. The Winnipeg actor-choreographer-director is currently one of the shooting stars of Canadian theatre. Citadel patrons will remember her for her vigorous choreography in the theatre’s recent production of Matilda.
By stripping away the excessive trappings of the Broadway show and concentrating on the sensitive book (script) by Marsha Norman (‘night, Mother, The Secret Garden), Rampersad has given us an intimate, often heartrending, gospel-infused tale of subjugation, resistance and final resurrection. Her production generates a convincing feeling of character, time and place, focusing on the story’s warm and impassioned essence using restraint to uncover a deep well of richness. Brian Perchaluk’s spare set of the bones of a house and a single blasted tree complements her vision.
Patrons may remember Steven Spielberg’s controversial 1985 film – which emphasized the abusive elements of the story. The Color Purple novel (and movie) were packed with characters and events – but the addition of music has softened the story without lessening any of its dramatic impact. Rampersad’s production generates a sense of fulfillment and integrity that is the musical’s alone. It is enhanced by the memorable music (music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray) and driven by the exuberant production with gospel numbers, raucous bar-room ballads, purring jazz ballads and energetic dance routines all of which promote a lively sense of community.
The story is of Celie (Calgary’s Tara Jackson ) who by the age of 14 has been rendered pregnant twice by her father. She is then sold to be the wife-servant of the violent Mister (Ryan Allen) who tells her, “You’re black, you’re poor, you’re ugly, you’re a woman. You’re nothing at all.”
She’s trapped in a life of sexual and physical abuse. Mister even keeps her from the only relationship that sustains her – with her sister Nettie (Allison Edwards-Crewe). On day, Mister brings home a free-spirited “fancy woman,” Shug (Karen Burthwright), a honky-tonk singer. No man will control the feisty Shug, who sees the humanity that lies buried within Celie. The two fall in love – and the process of the reclamation begins. The feeling between the two is summed up by the powerful ballad that ends Act 1, What About Love.
In Act II, Celie undergoes a slow dramatic metamorphosis from battered invisible wife to determined, self reliant businesswoman. Her story is told through a series of letters written between Celie and Nettie, the latter now a missionary in Africa. The letters are never answered (Mister keeps them from her), but in the darkest days of her life they throw Celie a lifeline.
The superb cast of 16 deliver their songs with verve. Much of the story is told by a reactive “Greek Chorus”- a zesty trio of hilariously synchronized “Church Ladies” (Masini McDermott, Maiko Munroe, and Sarah Nairne) sung in a call-and-response rhythm. Burthwright is an earthy unapologetic Shug and no woman to be trifled with. Allen is properly hissable as Mister but this able actor manages to generate a bit of sympathy for a man who is something of a victim himself. His delivery of Mister Song is particularly eloquent. Jackson and Edwards-Crewe have some sweet and delicate moments together in their beautiful duet Mysterious Ways. The musical is peopled by a whole village of vivid characters, each of whom has a powerful solo voice and, my, when they sing together, they’ll lift you from your seat. The small but substantial band of eight, under Floydd Ricketts, is soulful and solid.
Jackson as Celie is a revelation. In the early moments of the production she is cowed and self-effacing. This remarkable actor-singer croons softy while occasionally allowing us a peek behind the mask to see flashes of a rare spirit just below the surface. In the second half she blossoms like a Mississippi Magnolia and, newly empowered by love and success, rings the rafters with her anthem of unquenchable self-discovery, I’m Here.
At the end of opening night, the audience instantly rose as one to give them a standing ovation. Many through obvious tears.
This superb Citadel production, in partnership with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, runs in the Shoctor Theatre though October 13.
Photos by Ian Jackson, Epic Photography
