Massachusetts Daily Collegian

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A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Sensory overload: ‘…And Jesus Moonwalks on the Mississippi’ thrives at FAC

Stepping into the Fine Arts Center’s Curtain Theater for the University of Massachusetts Theater Department’s production of ”hellip; And Jesus Moonwalks on the Mississippi‘ on Friday night was a sensory overload.

Bright, almost neon paintings covered every wall of the theater, both engaging and warning at once, as if to say: ‘This is not a play for the faint of heart.’

Paintings by artist Garland Farwell and theater students depicted things like ‘tator pie,’ ‘big teef’ and ‘pot o’ grits,’ assimilating spectators to the down-home language of Louisiana.

Old kitchen implements cluttered on one wall, TV-like screens showing images of clouds hung from the ceiling and the floor was painted in a colorful mosaic.

The drumming jam session that opened the show was jarring, with the booming bass drum and the rattling snare, but the actors’ energy was infectious as they danced around the stage, banging on cowbells, tambourines, pots and pans.

”hellip; And Jesus Moonwalks on the Mississippi‘ uses many innovative techniques. In the more emotionally charged scenes actors call out from offstage, singing, moaning, playing an instrument like the wood block or fife or calling out responses to the action. The enclosed square space of the Curtain Theater allows for these calls to come from all sides, to the point where it’s almost an overstimulation of the senses trying to hear and see everything going on.

However, unlike many contemporary productions, director Gilbert McCauley gets it right in ”hellip; And Jesus Moonwalks,’ and keeps the offstage calls from becoming a distraction and hindering the play’s action.

In Miss Ssippi’s opening scene, for example, the calls feel instead like the interjections of Southern Baptist churchgoers, giving emphasis to Miss Ssippi’s artfully spoken words.

As the ‘quilter’ of the story, Miss Ssippi (the Mississippi River) wore a voluminous skirt of various articles of clothing quilted together: a man’s button-up shirt, a woman’s apron and a plain ol’ T-shirt. Her costuming was gorgeous, as the train of her skirt ‘- which represented the river and was also quilted together from many fabrics ‘- echoed the bright colors of the set design.

The play’s tale of grief is striking, as Demeter/Damascus searches for her daughter Po’em, and playwright and UMass faculty member Marcus Gardley poses the difficult questions of what it means to be truly free in a combination of elegant poetry and prose.

Yet even in such a tragic story Gardley adds humor, with lines like, ‘It’s like being ugly but goin’ around thinking you pretty and got one tooth to your name,’ and exchanges such as, ‘Who you talking with?’ ‘Jesus. He say hi.”

Gardley’s production played with this humor, incorporating funny touches like the tiny lampshades protruding from the bust of Cadence Verse’s corset and making Jesus’ halo, robes and sneakers glow.

The play doesn’t try too hard to be touching nor does it try too hard to be funny ‘- instead, ”hellip; And Jesus Moonwalks on the Mississippi‘ feels real.

The actors wonderfully captured this realness, not falling too hard into character archetypes and instead showing the range of emotions and capabilities present in each character. That is not to say they were inconsistent. Dawn Monique Williams maintained her attitude as Miss Ssippi, Frances Domond her innocence as Free, Mary Fegreus her spunky grit as Blanche and Djola Branner gave Damascus/Demeter great fortitude.

For the production, actors trying out were required to sing a folksong in addition to preparing a monologue, which was appropriate considering how prevalent the spiritual was throughout ”hellip; And Jesus Moonwalks.’ The work done with these spirituals was evident because the singing in the production was strong.

The only disappointment was the actual moonwalking. While Rondale Davis was as strong as the other actors, playing Jesus with grace and humor, his moonwalk was not up to the standards set by the title of ”hellip; And Jesus Moonwalks on the Mississippi.’

”hellip; And Jesus Moonwalks on the Mississippi‘ continues this week with performances May 5-9 at 8 p.m.at the Fine Arts Center‘s Curtain Theater.

Michelle Fredette can be reached at [email protected].

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