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Regional Reviews: St. Louis Flyin' West Also see Richard's review of David Kwong: The Enigmatist
More than one attempt to force great changes of life turn Pearl Cleage's Flyin' West from a homespun homily to a memorable suspense story in just about two and a half hours. The setting is rural Kansas in 1898, in this lovely fact-based drama staged by the The St. Louis Black Repertory at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center. The action follows a group of freed slave women who've bought low-priced land out on the prairie. But, even there, the world is full of ambitious people. The show first premiered in 1992 at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, and Ms. Cleage's script has tons of warmth and humanity, along with several elements of melodrama. But those are steadied by the firm realism and honest emotion instilled by director Jon Royal in his production. Real life is melodramatic enough in this play, which also comes equipped with lots of nice little laughs and genuine heartache. Jim Crow laws have made the South intolerable all over again for a group of newly minted frontier women after the Civil War, including Sophie, played by Margery Handy, steely-eyed and toting a shotgun with her whenever she goes outside. And I don't know for a fact that the awesome Renee Lockett actually needs a new hip, but she does seem to carry the weight of the world on her back as Miss Leah, an older freed slave who convalesces at Sophie's western ranch home. The women now live near the remote town of Nicodemus, Kansas, and their survivor's circle includes Fannie, played with lighthearted charm by Jazzma Pryor. "Nothing makes any sense without children," she sighs hopefully, though their shared past experiences as slaves, bought and sold and bred in Memphis, seem to belie her faith. Having children before emancipation only added to their nightmare, as we learn here. But soon they'll be joined by Minnie, Fannie's youngest sister who's expecting a baby of her own with her husband Frank, a poet. They had been living in London, a far cry from this sea of grass. On Chris Cumberbatch's set there's an air of vulnerability to the Kansas heat and winds, outside a dream-like house of frame and mesh, featuring a great old antique stove. And there's high quality lighting by Essie Clair Winston and sound by Justin Schmitz. In the cast, the teenage Minnie is played by the always-excellent Christina Yancy, and the super-smart Aaron Allen is great as her tall and slender husband Frank. He brings a perfectly stylized, patrician elegance to the stage and seems to tower over the women, intentionally. Reginald Wilson is warm and opens our hearts as another settler, Wil Parrish, who hopes to pair off with Fannie. In his own way he's as worldly as Frank, having lived in Mexico, though the results of the their adventures are completely different. Michele Siler's costumes are quite lovely, especially Minnie's large flower-covered hat and matching dress and shawl, and Frank's suit, in the London style of the time. Frank is maddened by a stolen inheritance, and longs to return to the glamor of the great city. Drama comes along with the arrival of land speculators, as the westward spread continues. Fannie and Leah have a long-standing debate over the power of history. The younger woman writes it all down, and the older woman fears that robs her of the power of her own acquired wisdom. And one of them does seem to win that debate in an ending that glows with the power of the ages. But before that, the whole thing turns to Hitchcock in the second act as a shocking plan is hatched, and murder becomes patron to a play within a play. Out in the real world, as expected, there was a very windy storm during the performance I attended, and peoples' phones were squealing all around the house with modern alerts nearly two hours into this fin de siècle story. Unexpectedly, about 75 more people from the adjacent studio theater were herded in for safety, filling out the mainstage orchestra section for the final 40 minutes (factoring in a ten minute storm hold). Fortunately, it's all just formulaic enough to make sense to newcomers, even at that late stage of the game. And near the very end, a long, deep rumble of the storm weighed against the roof overhead, as the villain was getting his just desserts. "That was a great special effect!," I whispered to the person sitting next to me, who laughed in agreement. Flyin' West, produced by the St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, continues through March 29, 2026, at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center, 210 E. Monroe, St. Louis MO. For tickets and information, please visit www.blackrep.org. Cast: Production Staff: * Denotes Member, Actors' Equity Association |
