The Double V dips into black history to tell its story. Back in 1941, with the war raging overseas, a young black man in Witchita, Kansas wrote a letter to The Pittsburgh Courier, pleading for the U.S. military to allow black folks to enlist. This was a shocking request. Racism was so widespread and deeply rooted at the time that blacks were treated as an inferior people, unworthy of serving their country. The letter rejected that kind of prejudicial thinking and called on the military to change its policy. If it did, blacks would fight as equally hard as whites and help the U.S. become victorious.. From the standpoint of the letter-writer, James “Jimmy” Thompson (Preston Butler, III), that “V” would lead to another “V” (or victory) when the war ended, with blacks being able to enjoy equal rights for the first time in U.S. history. As The Double V shows, that’s exactly what happened. Thompson’s letter became a cause celebre, with other newspapers, both black and white, reprinting it and debating its message in their pages. Soon politicians and pundits began sounding off as well, mostly in a negative way (“this kind of thing will only stir up domestic unrest”). That led to the FBI getting involved, with J. Edgar Hoover sending one of his agents (John Apicella) to investigate these “possible subversives” who believe in racial equality. Carole Eglash-Kosoff centers her story in the office of The Pittsburgh Courier, a paper whose managing editor Ira Lewis (Nicholas Few) is having a love affair with one of his reporters, Madge Evans (Brie Eley). It was Madge who discovered Jimmy Thompson’s letter and was so moved by it that she jumped on a train and traveled to Witchita to interview him. While there she also meets Jimmy’s girlfriend Annie (Terra Strong Lyons) and his grandfather Clem (Cary Thompson). Both Clem and Jimmy work in the local Cessna factory, where they are regularly abused and insulted by their redneck boss, Charlie Simpson (Joe Coffey). The Double V then goes on to set up—and then answer—the following questions. Will the FBI bust everyone? Will the KKK try and lynch Jimmy? Will Jimmy get his wish and be accepted into the army? Will Annie dump him if that happens? Will Ira marry Madge? Or will she dump him and join the WACS instead? The playwright also employs, at times, a narrator (Jamal Henderson) to address the audience directly and further explain the history and importance of The Double V campaign, which did, indeed, lead to the founding of the civil-rights movement in post-WW II USA. The didactic part of The Double V weakens the drama for me, but I still can recommend the play, not just for its historical worth but for its strong performances and skillful direction. I am also much impressed with John Iacovelli’s sprightly set.
