YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – When Lundeana Thomas was asked to direct a play of her choice at the Youngstown Playhouse this February, she didn’t hesitate in selecting “Gem of the Ocean.”
Thomas had wanted to helm a production of the August Wilson drama since it became available two decades ago. A two-weekend run of “Gem” – the Mahoning Valley premiere – will open Friday.
Thomas considers it to be the best work by the renowned Pittsburgh playwright.
Her involvement with Wilson dates back to the early 1990s when she was a theater professor at the University of Louisville and an actor in that Kentucky city.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Wilson, who died in 2005, is known for his “Pittsburgh Cycle,” a group of 10 plays set in that city. The list includes “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Fences” and “The Piano Lesson.” “Gem of the Ocean” is the penultimate play in the series.
Thomas first met Wilson in 1992 when she was portraying the title character in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” at the Actors Theater of Louisville. The playwright wrote a one-act short exclusively for the theater to accompany its production of “Ma Rainey’s.”
“He wrote a play about the musicians in [‘Ma Rainey’s’] for us,” Thomas said.
“Ma Rainey’s” tells the story of a fictional blues singer and her band member as they record in a Chicago studio in the 1920s.
After Wilson revealed that he was dying in 2005, Actors Theater decided to do a tribute revue that would feature a scene from all of his plays.
“Gem of the Ocean” had just ended its Broadway run at that time, but the play had not yet been published for theater rights.
“So we called [Wilson’s] wife and asked her to choose a scene from ‘Gem’ for us,” Thomas recalled. “She did, and it was such a wonderful success.”
The show drew throngs of playgoers, both Black and White. “It was a wonderful thing to see how we had come together to see it,” Thomas recalled. “It was at that time that I said I really wanted to do ‘Gem of the Ocean.’”
When the Playhouse last year asked Thomas to direct a show for the February slot, there was no doubt which one she would choose.
Synopsis
“Gem” is set in the home of Aunt Ester, a 285-year-old former slave who lives in a Black neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Aunt Ester is a keeper of tradition and history for her people and a “cleanser of souls.”
The action of the play is ignited when a Black man who is accused of stealing from a local mill jumps and kills himself rather than confessing to a crime he didn’t commit. He becomes a martyr to his co-workers, who go on strike and riot.
Amid this trouble comes Citizen Barlow, a newcomer from the South who asks Aunt Ester to absolve him of a crime he committed.
She sends Barlow on a spiritual journey aboard the legendary slave ship Gem of the Ocean to the mythical City of Bones. There, Barlow comes to understand the story of his ancestors and faces the truth about his crime.
The Director
Thomas, who returned to her hometown of Youngstown in 2014, taught History of African American theater at the University of Louisville.
There are differences in Black acting theory, she explained, including spiritual motivation. She incorporates those unique differences when directing her actors.
“I choose to pray [during rehearsals],” she said, explaining that is one of the tenets. “So many things can come up when doing a play, and having a firm spiritual base helps. It especially helps with August Wilson plays.”
The upcoming production of “Gem” is a call for hope, she said.
“I’m always reminded of the movie ‘The Shawshank Redemption,’ when [the character] Red warns his prison friend Andy that ‘hope is a dangerous thing.’ But Andy responds, ‘Hope is a good thing, and good things never die.’
“That is one of the things that we will try to bring out in ‘Gem of the Ocean,’” Thomas said.
As with all Wilson plays, “Gem” is populated by complex characters and powerful dialog. It also makes use of symbolism.
Aunt Ester is one example. Her age of 285 years is based on the year when her people began being removed from Africa as slaves. “Her name, Aunt Ester, is like saying ancestor,” Thomas said. “And what is really the gem of the ocean is the bones of the ancestors who died [on slave ships] during the Middle Passage.”
When asked to rank her favorite Wilson plays, Thomas paused but eventually settled on “Gem.”
“It says that we need to have respect and honor for our ancestors – for what they survived and how they worked to keep us together,” she said.
The play also carries the message that hope springs eternal.
“When we get discouraged, all we have to do is think about the slaves who believed that one day they would all be free, and that day came,” Thomas said. “That kind of strength can guide you in making decisions, so having that foundation is important.”
The cast of the Playhouse production of “Gem of the Ocean” includes Nailah Thomas, Waymond Grace, Dan Colvin, Jaietta Jackson, DC Colvin, Terry Shears and Arcale Peace.
Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21-22 and Feb. 28-March 1; and at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 23 and March 2.
Tickets range from $22 to $17 and can be purchased in advance HERE.
Pictured at top: Terry Shears and Nailah Thomas, front, and Jaietta Jackson, DC Colvin and Waymond Grace appear in the Youngstown Playhouse’s production of “The Gem of the Ocean.”