There are many stories floating around concerning Martin Luther King, Jr., and the various events of the early Civil Rights days. Although King's name is never mentioned in The Good Negro, it is obvious that playwright Tracey Scott Wilson has utilized information, some factual some fictional, to present an involving work dealing with King and that intense period in the 60s.
In Ms. Wilson's take, a triumvirate of leaders, Reverend James Lawrence (Curtis McClarin), his right hand Henry Evans (J. Bernard Calloway) and Bill Rutherford (LeRoy McClain), is based in Birmingham, endeavoring to organize a march which will make the politicos of the city sit up and give Negroes their rights.
The situation becomes complicated early on when not only is parishioner Claudette Sullivan (Joniece Abbott Pratt) jailed for allegedly disrupting the peace, but her four-year-old daughter, Sherry, is likewise punished. A nasty red-neck type, Gary Thomas (Tommy) Rowe, Jr. (Erik Jensen), takes it upon himself to parcel out "justice" in the matter. He even wears a badge, improperly so.
Reverend Lawrence and colleagues are up in arms over this injustice, and further realize that the unpleasant incident can be put to good political use for the benefit of the project.
To further complicate matters, because of the incident, Claudette comes into close contact with Lawrence, arousing jealousy on the parts of their respective mates, Corinne Lawrence (Rachel Nicks) and Pelzie Sullivan (Francois Battiste), expressed in some vivid scenes.
Parallel events are taking place: Two FBI men (played by Quincy Dunn-Baker and Brian Wallace) are ensconced in the town, with a tape recorder taking down any and all pertinent conversations between the triumvirate. The agents bring the aggressive Rowe into their confidence and send him out to infiltrate the local scene.
Conflicts within the trio threaten to disrupt and possibly damage their efforts. Henry Evans, a Birmingham native and grass-roots type worker, is jealous of Johnny-come-lately Bill Rutherford, who has recently arrived from Geneva, Switzerland. Rutherford, a more sophisticated type, is also hard-nosed regarding moral conduct. When it comes out that Reverend Lawrence may have had closer than proper relations with Claudette, disagreements between Evans and Rutherford hit the boiling point, with Lawrence pleading, "This is what they want, don't you see?"
Events build to a tragedy, but that tragedy will be turned to positive use by the trio, and ultimately, it is implied, Negroes' demands will be met to a great extent.
Playwright Wilson's script is compelling and exciting, melding personal incidents (reputed to be based on fact) into the known events of the Civil Rights Movement.
Director Liesl Tommy has heightened the play's intensity by her very flexible and fast-paced staging, letting each short scene almost cinematic in character flow quickly into the next. Her cast, doing fine ensemble work, does full justice to Ms. Wilson's play.
The Good Negro is the first new play to transfer from the Public LAB initiative to a full mainstage production at the Public. It is well worth a visit.
Francois Battiste & Joniece Abbott-Pratt
