Crumbs From The Table Of Joy

Sometimes good acting is not enough. Sometimes interesting directing is not enough. Not enough, that is, to mask slow, ponderous writing. Crumbs From The Table of Joy, on the Cassius Carter Centre Stage, depicts widower Godfrey Crump's (Bryan Hicks) move from Florida to Brooklyn with his two daughters Ernestine (Melany Bell) and Ermina (Audra Alise Polk). It is 1950, and blacks don't "belong" in white neighborhoods – a feeling strongly held in many large-city neighborhoods. This established, playwright Lynn Nottage burdens the tale with too many sub-plots. There's the main theme of a man unable to get past the death of his wife, an alcoholic sister-in-law, teenage daughters socially abused by their peers, a white stepmother, and all too much more.

Crumbs is Ernestine Crump's story, often told directly to the audience. Melany Bell is a delight to watch as she moves from an actor in a play to a narrator to a dreamer wishing for realities that are not to be. Bell handles these roles with ease; there is never a question of which reality the playwright has put her in. The setting is a basement apartment in Brooklyn, with appointments properly old and rundown. The floor, however, resembles a 50s contemporary hodgepodge of wood patterns, with an ebony cross that appears have been laid down by Father Devine from his portrait hanging above one corner of the stage. Scenic Designer David Ledsinger therefore creates a playing environment totally outside of the reality and context of the play, unless the apartment were actual housed in a museum of contemporary architecture.

Were all black fathers of the 50s rigid? Bryan Hicks portrays father Godfrey Crump, following the dictates of the playwright, as an angry, religiously passionate parent unable to show real compassion for his daughters. Hicks' Godfrey is a mixed bag of high emotions, unable to truly comprehend his role in life, as a parent, as a brother-in-law, as a husband. Aunt and sister-in-law Lily Ann Green, played by JoAnna Rhinehart, claims to be a communist, loves the bottle, and seems to have her cell meetings in a bar. Rhinehart gives her a special flamboyance that is, at once, a delight, and, on second look, a very sad, tragic figure. Her portrayal was dynamic, her movements fluid. As the stepmother and German emigreé Gerte Schulte, who enters into a black family in a white neighborhood surrounded by prejudice, Lisa Bruneau brings strength to this difficult role. Audra Alise Polk completes the cast as Ernestine's sister Ermina, a quiet girl with a street pugilist's rage toward her contemporaries.

Esther Marquis' costumes are well-researched, depicting the period authentically. Paul Peterson's sound and Trevor Norton's lighting enhance the mood. Crumbs from the Table of Joy is performed well, but the play is over-written, with too many subplots, too many questions asked. Give the cast a solid "B" and director Seret Scott a "B+" for making the words as exciting as possible.