THE BASICS: CULLUD WATTAH, a play by Erika Dickerson-Dispenza, directed by Curtis Lovell, May 12 – 28, Fridays – Saturdays at 7:30, Sundays at 4 (with one extra show Thursday, May 25 also at 7:30). Lorna C. Hill Theater, Ujima Company, Inc, 429 Plymouth Ave., Buffalo 14213 (716) 322-5178 ujimacoinc.org
RUNTIME: A little over 2 hours with one intermission
THUMBNAIL SKETCH: As the play opens it’s November 2016, and 936 days since Flint, Michigan last had clean water. You yourself may have read the headlines but as you look through the colored water, you can see, in granular detail, how the poison from the Flint River has seeped into the bodies, minds, and souls of the residents, in particular, a family of 5 women, struggling to get by, and to get along, as different priorities pull them apart.
THE PLAYERS, THE PLAY, AND THE PRODUCTION:
Big Ma (Verneice Turner), a widow, presides over a small home with three generations of black women under one roof, but even though she is small, she is fierce, commanding attention with her walking stick adorned with bottle caps for a percussive effect when she is angry. And she has a lot to be angry about as she watches her family suffer from years of drinking water that has been contaminated by god-knows-what, but predominantly lead.
Her daughter Marion (Shantinna Moore) is the breadwinner, a 3rd generation General Motors plant worker, suffering from sores on her body, a secret she tries to hide. She also tries to hide the fact that GM, upon discovering that the Flint River water was corroding the metal auto parts, switched from Flint water to the much cleaner Detroit water. And yet Marion remains loyal to the company, but what else can she do? There are no other jobs around that pay anything like GM and the house has very little resale value, given the surrounding environment.
Marion’s child, Plum (Janae Leonard), suffers from leukemia, presumably from the water. She’s missed a lot of school, doesn’t like to go to school where she has to wear a wig, but of more immediate concern to everyone is that Plum often walks in her sleep putting her in harm’s way. Marion’s other child Reesee (Brooklyn Walker) has, to Big Ma’s chagrin, rejected the Christian God as being ineffective. Instead, she has embraced the Yoruban water goddess, Yeyé Omo Eja, and through prayer and ritual dance, hopes to bring some salvation to her family. Meanwhile Marion’s sister Ainee (Dayatra Hassan), finally clean after years of crack addiction, is pregnant for the seventh time. The first six pregnancies all ended with miscarriages. Seven is a lucky number, but can luck overcome overwhelming odds?
Listing all those woes (and that’s just a sample) in one paragraph doesn’t pay homage to the way that playwright/poet Erika Dickerson-Dispenza slowly, believably, and realistically introduces each character and their concerns. It continues the tradition of the “Kitchen Sink” plays which reveal the living conditions and social inequality of working-class people on the stage. But CULLUD WATTAH isn’t preachy. It gets the point across by putting you in that house, under that roof, in that kitchen with all the plastic water bottles.
If you enjoyed STEW at Ujima, with a strong, multigenerational, female cast you’ll enjoy CULLUD WATTAH, which also focuses on cooking (and counting out how many bottles of water it will take for the beans, how many bottles for the potatoes, etc.). And if you enjoyed SWEAT, by African-American playwright Lynn Nottage (wrapping up this weekend at Road Less Traveled) you’ll appreciate the dilemma of Marion, who wants to leave the union to take on a higher salary management job, a job that could be in jeopardy if she follows her sister Ainee’s plan to join a class-action suit against GM. There’s a lot going on in this play, but it’s never confusing nor does it seem “forced.”
I recall once interviewing Ujima’s co-founder, Lorna C. Hill, during her production of FREE FRED BROWN where I first heard the term “intersectionality.” That has many definitions but one is the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender along with economics, climate, politics, and technology, all creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. So I’m happy to report that the director of this play, Curtis Lovell, nailed it. Lorna would have been so proud of her daughter, I’m sure.
The set is quite a marvel as the entire first floor is displayed across the stage, with Reesee’s bedroom upstage to our left, the kitchen upstage to our right, with living room downstage center, while behind that is the bathroom, with a large, clawfooted bathtub right there, center stage. Why is that bathtub so prominent? Right in our face? You’ll find out in good time.
Credit for Set Design/Construction goes to Dylan Regan, Nicholas Siracuse, Zachary Mieczko, Brian Brown, Gerald Ramsey, and Ben Caldwell. Both the lighting and sound designs by Nicholas Quinn are effective and minimalist, not intrusive, but good at focusing our attention on what is important at any given time. The costumes by Jennifer Simpson are suited to each character, and the many props by Brian Brown and Curtis Lovell make this realistic play work.
Because of the very strong cast, the solid direction, the empathy you’ll have for the characters, not to mention the frequent flashes of humor, I would make a real effort to attend.
*HERD OF BUFFALO (Notes on the Rating System)
ONE BUFFALO: This means trouble. A dreadful play, a highly flawed production, or both. Unless there is some really compelling reason for you to attend (i.e. you are the parent of someone who is in it), give this show a wide berth.
TWO BUFFALOS: Passable, but no great shakes. Either the production is pretty far off base, or the play itself is problematic. Unless you are the sort of person who’s happy just going to the theater, you might look around for something else.
THREE BUFFALOS: I still have my issues, but this is a pretty darn good night at the theater. If you don’t go in with huge expectations, you will probably be pleased.
FOUR BUFFALOS: Both the production and the play are of high caliber. If the genre/content are up your alley, I would make a real effort to attend.
FIVE BUFFALOS: Truly superb–a rare rating. Comedies that leave you weak with laughter, dramas that really touch the heart. Provided that this is the kind of show you like, you’d be a fool to miss it!