Tuesday, May 6, 2008
"Spunk" Closes Sunday at Hattiloo
Posted on Tue, May 6, 2008 at 4:00 AM
George C. Wright's lyrical adaptation of three Zora Neal Hurston short stories is engaging but filled with troublesome clichés. In the show's opening moments, for example, a slender mocha-skinned man in the dark suit-and-hat uniform of a Chicago bluesman, picks variations on a single chord while Blues Speak Woman, his unsurprisingly sassy female counterpart, sings a song titled "How Do You Git to the Git?"
"With some blues 'n' some grit, some pain, some spit," Blues Speak Woman wails. "And some SPUNK."
Hurston was a controversial figure during the Harlem Renaissance, and some reasons for the controversy are apparent in Spunk. Unlike many of the liberal, occasionally radical African-American intellectuals at the center of this cultural moment, she was anti-integration, anti-New Deal, and her characters could shuck and jive like they'd been imported from a black-face minstrel show. True to form, Spunk's second act is a clown show featuring a pair of dim, slang-mouthed pimps sparring over a sexy female mark.
The bothersome baggy-pants comedy is book-ended with moving tales of rural tragedy and domestic splendor, reminding us that, for all of her perceived faults, Hurston was a world-class storyteller able to conjure up images of American life that won't go away quickly after the actors take their bows.
Spunk brings the Hattiloo Theatre's auspicious second season to a strong close. It was preceded by a nearly perfect interpretation of Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog and an intimate, innovative production of Shakespeare's Macbeth.
Tickets are $12-$15. Seating is limited. Call 525-0009 for more information or visit Hattiloo's website.
by Chris Davis
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