Court's production of 'First Breeze' just stale air
Happy are those who arrive at the theater without expectations, for they are rarely disappointed.
Court Theatre raised this theatergoer's expectations when it announced the production details of its revival of Leslie Lee's rarely staged "The First Breeze of Summer."
The production reunites several members of the cast and creative team responsible for Court's much lauded 2006 production of August Wilson's "Fences," In addition to director Ron OJ Parson and actors A.C. Smith and Jacqueline Williams, all of whom received Jeff Awards for their work on that production, "First Breeze of Summer" also brings together set designer Jack Magaw, sound designers Joshua Horvath and Ray Nardelli and actor Taj McCord.
Unfortunately, the considerable talent Court has assembled for this production can't make up for Lee's obvious, often contrived, altogether ordinary drama about a middle-class black family in the 1970s struggling with the weight of the past and the challenges of the present.
The show's problems rest mostly with the play, which telegraphs its plot like a Lifetime movie, yet fails to adequately explain its characters' motivation. What's more, Lee clutters the narrative with distractions, like the spirited mini-revival that occupies a chunk of the first act, which feels forced and detracts from the story. Parson's cast is solid, although some of the actors seem a little too old for the roles. Sadly, veterans Smith and Williams and winning newcomer Cynthia Kaye McWilliams are wasted in this underwhelming production of an uninspired play. The action takes place over a June weekend at the home of Milton Edwards (Smith in a typically scintillating performance) and his wife Hattie (a woefully underused Williams whose big scene comes too late to make much impact). The family - including oldest son Nate (Brian Weddington), who dropped out of college to join his father's plastering business, younger son Lou (Calvin Dutton), a self-righteous college-bound young man ashamed of his race, and Milton's outspoken older sister Edna (Marsha Estell) - have gathered to celebrate the birthday of beloved matriarch Lucretia, known to her grandsons as Gremmar, a forward-thinking, unapologetically sensual woman tenderly and robustly played by Pat Bowie.
"First Breeze of Summer" unfolds as a memory play in which Bowie's Lucretia - whose younger self is played by the dimpled, charismatic McWilliams - recalls the ill-fated love affairs that produced her three children. There's Taj McCord's Sam Greene, the teenage Lucretia's first love, frustrated at the humiliations he has to endure at the hands of white men; Jonathan Eliot's slightly unstable Briton Woodward, the jealous son of Lucretia's wealthy white employer; and Ronald L. Conner's endearingly deferential Harper Edwards, an aspiring minister with a limited capacity for forgiveness. Unsurprisingly, the fathers pass their insecurities, frustrations and anger on to their children and grandchildren. Animated by their father's disappointment and helplessness rather than their mother's independence and affection, they and their children become defensive, resigned, jealous and self-loathing.
The play generates some wind gusts in the second act, but they come in the form of a shocking and not especially credible climax. And by then it's too late for "The First Breeze of Summer," a play that emerges as little more than a faint puff of air.
"The First Breeze of Summer"
Rating: 2 stars
Location: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave., Chicago
Times: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays through June 15
Running time: About 2 hours, 15 minutes with intermission
Tickets: $32-$54
Parking: Free lot adjacent to theater
Box office: (773) 753-4472 or courttheatre.org
Rating: For adults; includes subject matter of a sexual nature