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The Amen Corner by James Baldwin (review)
Theatre Journal Pub Date : 2021-04-01
Isaiah Matthew Wooden

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:

  • The Amen Corner by James Baldwin
  • Isaiah Matthew Wooden
THE AMEN CORNER. By James Baldwin. Directed by Whitney White. Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, D.C. February 28, 2020.

Often heralded as one of the most formidable and influential American novelists, essayists, and public intellectuals of the twentieth century, James Baldwin remains underappreciated as a playwright. While he did not contribute a vast body of work to the modern theatrical canon—only publishing two full-length plays during his lifetime—it is notable that drama was one of the forms Baldwin began experimenting with earliest in his career. Indeed, not long after achieving acclaim with his first novel, the semi-autobiographical Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), Baldwin turned his attention to The Amen Corner (1954). The evocative three-act epic, which tells the story of Sister Margaret Alexander and the conflict-riddled storefront church she leads in Harlem, excavates and reckons with many of the moral, racial, and existential themes that preoccupied Baldwin during his early years as a “boy preacher” and would later become hallmarks of his work. In the soul-stirring, roof-raising revival she staged at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, director Whitney White surfaced fresh resonances and meanings in many of those themes and, in so doing, laid bare the enduring beauty and bounty of Baldwin’s dramatic imagination.

Baldwin sharpens particular focus on the spirit, rituals, and traditions of the Black church—and the contradictions there within—in his dramaturgy. White ensured that audiences remained immersed in these essential aspects of Black culture throughout her production. Daniel Soule’s scenic design helped set the tone and atmosphere from the outset. Heeding the call Baldwin offers in the play’s stage directions for a synthesis between the internal and external worlds, Soule placed center stage the mauve, carpet-lined interior of the church sanctuary that becomes the site of much of the play’s action, and surrounded it with towering brick walls (replete with terraces) that evoked the high-density housing complexes that continue to line many of the streets in Harlem. He positioned the apartment that Sister Margaret (Mia Ellis) shares with her teenage son David (Antonio Michael Woodard) and older sister Odessa (Harriet Foy) a level below the pulpit, outfitting the otherwise nondescript kitchen with a bright blue Frigidaire. The sprawling design provided a suitable backdrop for the powerhouse choir (skillfully led by music director Victor Simonson and comprised of some of the D.C. region’s most fiery and accomplished singer-performers) that White assembled to deliver renditions of classic spiritual and gospel tunes, inviting call and response throughout the performance. The environment also served as a potent visual representation of the tensions animating Baldwin’s text.

Sister Margaret’s very narrow convictions about what it means to live a righteous and sanctified life is the source of many of those tensions. While members of her church and family initially seem to align with her decidedly low tolerance for any demonstrations of worldliness, there are early signs of rifts and resentments. When, for example, Sister Margaret disapproves of Brother Boxer (Phil McGlaston), a loyal church elder, taking on a job delivering liquor, his wife, Sister Boxer (Deidra La-Wan Starnes), and the sanctimoniously chaste Sister Moore (E. Faye Butler) drop hints of their irritation about her intransigence. The trio becomes even more loose-lipped and defiant when Luke (Chiké Johnson), Sister Margaret’s estranged husband, unexpectedly shows up and exposes the fraudulence of her testimony about being abandoned. Butler’s turn as Sister Moore, who successfully leads a [End Page 91]


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The cast of The Amen Corner. (Photo: Scott Suchman.)


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E. Faye Butler (Sister Moore) and the cast of The Amen Corner. (Photo: Scott Suchman.)

[End Page 92]

campaign to have Sister Margaret relieved of her preacherly duties, was superlative, endowing the potentially insufferable figure with both levity and gravitas. She was well-matched by Harriet Foy’s nuanced rendering of the ever-protective Odessa, with whom she passionately spars throughout the play. Odessa perhaps understands better than anybody the profound pressure and scrutiny her sister faces...



中文翻译:

詹姆斯·鲍德温(James Baldwin)的《阿门角落》(评论)

代替摘要,这里是内容的简要摘录:

审核人:

  • 詹姆斯·鲍德温(James Baldwin)的阿门角Amen Corner)
  • 以赛亚·马修·伍德
阿门拐角。詹姆斯·鲍德温(James Baldwin)。由惠特尼·怀特(Whitney White)执导。莎士比亚戏剧公司,华盛顿特区,2020年2月28日。

詹姆斯·鲍德温(James Baldwin)经常被公认为20世纪美国最强大,最有影响力的小说家,散文作家和公共知识分子之一,但他仍然没有受到赏识。尽管他没有为现代戏剧经典作大量的工作(仅在他的一生中出版了两部完整的戏剧),但值得注意的是戏剧是鲍德温在他的职业生涯中最早尝试的一种形式。的确,鲍德温(Baldwin)第一部小说《半山自传》(Go Tell It on the Mountain,1953年)获得好评后不久,便将注意力转向了阿门角(The Amen Corner)(1954)。令人回味无穷的三幕史诗,讲述了玛格丽特·亚历山大大姐和她在哈林领导的充满冲突的店面教堂的故事,挖掘并考虑了鲍德温在早年生活中所关注的许多道德,种族和存在主题。 “男孩传教士”,后来成为他作品的标志。她在莎士比亚戏剧公司上演的惊心动魄的屋顶复兴中,导演惠特尼·怀特(Whitney White)在其中许多主题中浮现了新的共鸣和含义,并在此过程中展现了鲍德温戏剧性想象力的持久美感和悬赏。

鲍德温在戏剧中特别注重黑人教会的精神,仪式和传统以及其中的矛盾。怀特(White)确保在她的整个创作过程中,观众始终沉浸在黑人文化的这些基本方面。丹尼尔·苏勒(Daniel Soule)优美的设计从一开始就帮助设定了基调和氛围。鲍德温听从鲍德温在剧本舞台上的指导,以寻求内部和外部世界之间的综合,苏莱将教堂圣殿的淡紫色,地毯衬砌的内部摆放到舞台中央,这成为了剧本大部分活动的地点,并围绕着它。高耸的砖墙(充满露台)让人联想起高密度的房屋建筑群,这些建筑群继续在哈林的许多街道上排成一列。他将玛格丽特修女(米亚·埃利斯)与十几岁的儿子大卫(安东尼奥·迈克尔·伍德亚德)和姐姐敖德萨(哈里埃特·福伊)共享的公寓放置在讲台下方的位置,在原本无法描述的厨房中安装了明亮的蓝色Frigidaire。庞大的设计为强力合唱团(由音乐总监Victor Simonson巧妙地领导,并包括华盛顿特区一些最火爆和最出色的歌手和表演者组成)提供了合适的背景,怀特将这些合唱团传达给经典的精神和福音音乐,并邀请他们来演奏。和整个演出的反应。该环境还可以有效地视觉化地表现出鲍德温文字的张力。为原本没有描述的厨房配备明亮的蓝色Frigidaire。庞大的设计为强力合唱团(由音乐总监Victor Simonson巧妙地领导,并包括华盛顿特区一些最火爆和最出色的歌手和表演者组成)提供了合适的背景,怀特将这些合唱团传达给经典的精神和福音音乐,并邀请他们来演奏。和整个演出的反应。该环境还可以有效地视觉化显示鲍德温文字的紧张气氛。为原本没有描述的厨房配备明亮的蓝色Frigidaire。庞大的设计为强力合唱团(由音乐总监Victor Simonson巧妙地领导,并由华盛顿特区一些最火爆,最出色的歌手和表演者组成)提供了合适的背景,怀特装配了该合唱团来传达经典的精神和福音曲调,引人入胜和整个演出的反应。该环境还可以有效地视觉化地表现出鲍德温文字的张力。在整个演出过程中吸引人的来电和回应。该环境还可以有效地视觉化地表现出鲍德温文字的张力。在整个演出过程中吸引人的来电和回应。该环境还可以有效地视觉化地表现出鲍德温文字的张力。

玛格丽特姐妹关于过着正义和成圣的生活的含义的狭narrow信念是许多这种紧张关系的根源。尽管她的教堂和家庭成员最初似乎与她对世俗主义表现出的绝对低容忍相吻合,但早期迹象表明存在裂痕和怨恨。例如,当玛格丽特修女不赞成忠实的教堂长者,义和团长,义和团的兄弟义和团(Phil McGlaston),他的妻子修女义和团(Deidra La-Wan Starnes)和谦逊的贞洁修女穆尔(E.王菲·巴特勒(Faye Butler)暗示他们对她的固执己见感到不满。当玛格丽特姐妹的疏远丈夫卢克(奇克·约翰逊)出乎意料地露面并揭露其关于被遗弃的证词的欺诈性行为时,三人变得更加-嘴和反抗。[完第91页]


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阿门角(Amen Corner)的演员。(照片:Scott Suchman。)


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E. Faye Butler(摩尔姐妹)和The Amen Corner演员表。(照片:Scott Suchman。)

[完第92页]

使玛格丽特修女解除其传教职责的运动是最高级的,为这位可能无法忍受的人物提供了浮夸和引人入胜的支持。哈丽雅特·福伊(Harriet Foy)精心保护的敖德萨(Odessa)细腻的渲染使她与之相得益彰。敖德萨也许比任何人都更好地理解姐姐面临的巨大压力和审查。

更新日期:2021-04-01
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