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Irma P. Hall, Kimberly Hebert-Gregory, Velma Austin and Jacqueline Williams star in Victory Gardens Theater's Midwest premiere of S.M. Shephard-Massat's Waiting to be Invited. Photo: Liz Lauren Press
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Waiting to Be Invited
by S.M. Shephard-Massat
directed by Ilesa Lisa Duncan
January 18 - March 3, 2002
Victory Gardens Theatre
2257 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614 USA
Box Office: 773.871.3000
http://www.victorygardens.org
The title of S. M. Shephard-Massat's play, Waiting to be Invited, presages a deliciously ironic vision of the racist and segregated society of 1960's Atlanta where an African-American could wait for an invitation--to many a social occasion--that would never arrive. But, Waiting to be Invited is neither a history lesson chronicling the civil rights movement and the desegregation of Atlanta institutions after the Supreme Court decisions of 1964, nor a study of the roles and images of African-American women in the South, despite the opening songs like Little Bitty Pretty One, Strange Fruit by Billie Holliday, and Four Women by Nina Simone. This play is a simple, but compelling study of the courage of four African-American women. As produced by Victory Gardens and directed by Ilesa Lisa Duncan, in its Midwest premiere, Waiting to be Invited is an effective character study. But, ironically, this strength results in the chief weakness of the play: it is an ineffective, even plodding drama.
The phrase "waiting to be invited" congers up images of passive gentility and afternoon teas and limousines. But the four heroes of Waiting to be Invited are not on the social register. At the beginning of the play, three workers in a doll factory at the end of their shift have removed their uniforms in the locker room and have donned the white dresses, hats, and gloves that are de rigueur for an afternoon tea. They have planned to meet another woman, a minister's wife, and then proceed to a downtown department store to order and eat a commonplace lunch of fish sticks and salad, at the heretofore segregated store lunch counter. These women are the invited guests of no one; for their food they will receive a bill and tender payment. They will arrive for luncheon after a hot ride on a city bus. They may not be welcomed; they may not be served; they may be reviled; they may be attacked.
The play reveals the character and relationship of the women during the bus ride and their meeting in front of the department store. During the bus trip of the first act, the three doll factory workers announce their luncheon plans to the African-American bus driver, Palmeroy, and Miss Grayson, an older white woman. On the threshold of the department store, during the second act, the three discuss their plans with the minister's wife. The leitmotif of these scenes is the interplay of their individual and group fear, and their courage.
The playwright, S. M. Shephard-Massat, has stated that Waiting to be Invited is "less of a civil rights piece and more about the relationships between these four women at a certain time in their lives." Dana Zeid, "Playwright Interview," Victory News, Issue 3, 2001-2002 Season, pg. 2. Even though in the script the women engage in gossipy repartee in the factory locker room--as they talk about the boss lady and change from their uniforms into their luncheon finery--and on the bus, the actors never really function as a ensemble. There is something not quite precise about their timing. So the nature of their relationship is unclear. However, S. M. Shephard-Massat's portrayal of the individual women is sure and authoritative. The play is about the "strength and the mindset that women of my memory, my grandmother, her friends, our neighbors, had to have in order to keep going, to keep feeding their families." In individual performance, each of the four actors, Irma P. Hall, Kimberly Hébert-Gregory, Velma Austin, and Jacqueline Williams, convey with an intensity who these women are and why they determine to carry out their mission at the lunch counter. The playwright conveniently gives each one a defining monologue explaining their motives, their fears, and their resolve. The factory guard dogs attacked the children of the older of the women, Odessa (Hall) because the security force thought they were protesters. Louise (Austin) is tired of taking her son to the colored section to see movies like Disney's "Song of the South". Delores (Williams) does not have any family, but wants to change the society she lives in. Ruth, the reformed wife of the minister (Hébert-Gregory), exclaims "I'm not Coretta!" to explain her fearfulness and desire to abort the mission.
Velma Austin, Mary Ann Thebus, Irma P. Hall and Kenn E. Head in Waiting to be Invited at Victory Gardens Theater. Photo: Liz Lauren Press
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This excellent cast is supported by Kenn E. Head, as the bus driver, Palmeroy Bateman, who is both proud and apprehensive about the women's mission, and Mary Ann Thebus as Miss Grayson, a white passenger on the bus who sits within the circle of African-American factory workers because she is accustomed to sit in that special seat on the bus, regardless who is sitting next to her. For the playwright, Miss Grayson, with her addled cheerfulness and genuine Christianity, "represents my wanting to get that, 'All white folks is evil' bad fruit off the table because, again, this play is not about, 'Oh, look wha' the white folks dun' done to us poe'-ly, lil,' ole black folks down south.'"
The dramatic action within the characters, as they courageously conquer their fears to complete their mission, is mired in a very plodding plot and very lackluster staging, even as the cast all deliver stellar performances. Lindsay Jones' music and sound design is earthy, bluesey, and lively -- but evocative of a play with a very different focus. The action of the first scene in the doll factory locker room is crisply staged by director Ilesa Lisa Duncan. Louise and Delores assist Odessa in dressing for luncheon. Even though Mary Griswold's set and Jaymi Lee Smith's lighting design are merely functional, this first scene is enlivened by Kristine Knanishu's wonderful costumes. But, then, the scene shifts to the boarding of the bus to downtown Atlanta. At this point, the direction seems to lose focus, and the minimalist set and lighting obscure the dynamics of the characters' remarkable mission. The bus is set on a partial revolve to move it into place on the stage; otherwise, the bus is stationary. The interior of the bus has a realistic steering wheel and representative seating. The movement of the bus to downtown Atlanta is suggested by the actors' jerking to intermittent guitar riffs. Projections indicate that miles are passing. Although there is constant banter among the women and Palmeroy, and later the monologue of Miss Grayson, this bus trip seems stifling and meandering, not exhilarating and purposeful. Act II is set near the bus stop in front of the department store. Much happens within the characters; little happens on the stage until the last, and effectively beautiful, tableau. As a portrait of four courageous African-American women, Waiting to be Invited is inspiring. As a dramatization of the story of those women, it is disappointing.
Waiting to be Invited, S.M. Shephard-Massat's drama based on the life of her grandmother. Ilesa Lisa Duncan directs a midwest premiere. Victory Gardens Theater, first-floor main stage. Previews through January 27: Thursday-Saturday, 8 PM; Sunday, 3 PM. $20-$23. Opens Monday, January 28, 7:30 PM. Through March 3: Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 PM; Saturdays, 5 and 8:30 PM; Sundays, 3 PM; Wednesday, February 13, 2 PM only; no show Tuesday, January 29. $28-$33.
--Sandra Marie Lee
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