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Every Facet Of 'Gem' Sparkles In Riveting Season Opener

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By DOROTHY SMILJANICH Tribune correspondent

Published: September 10, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - Surprising how much a little stage can contain. How much life. How much love. How much pain. How much joy.

But perhaps not so surprising when the little stage is the one here at the American Stage Company and when the play it contains is August Wilson's 'Gem of the Ocean.'

Opening its 29th anniversary season with this powerful two-act drama, American Stage proves again why it has endured, indeed flourished, while so many other theater companies on both sides of Tampa Bay have come and gone.

Despite an occasional misstep, it generally mounts professional productions of important plays that engage and challenge audiences on both the intellectual and emotional levels. This one certainly does.

'Gem of the Ocean' is part of a cycle of 10 plays about the black experience in America penned by an author recognized as perhaps the theater's most successful and important black playwright.

With two Pulitzer Prizes as well as a host of lesser awards to his credit, Wilson, who died in 2005, found in the story of one people the larger story of all people. Therein lay his genius, as well as his wide and enduring appeal.

Set in 1904 in a black neighborhood in Pittsburgh, 'Gem of the Ocean' tells the story of the crime and redemption of a young man named Citizen Barlow. He comes to have his soul washed of its sinful stain under the ministrations of Aunt Ester, an iconic community healer.

At her home, he finds friendship, faith and finally the courage to confront his past and so embrace his future.

But behind and within this very individual story, the play also explores the scourge of slavery (this is a generation that made the transition from slavery to freedom); the economic exploitation of the poor; male-female relationships; and the authority of the law versus the anarchy of the mob (with all this going on, it's no wonder the first act is an hour and 15 minutes long).

The play is deep and wide and multilayered, and not enough can be said of the cast.

Although the play primarily tells the story of young Citizen Barlow, its central character is Aunt Ester. She is played by Sharon E. Scott, who fills the stage with mesmerizing power and grace.

Even so, Scott is careful and subtle enough not to overwhelm the rest of the cast with her force, and every single one of them creates a fine and convincing character who is, in one way or another, her match.

This well-balanced, beautifully orchestrated acting is under the direction of Bob Devin Jones, while the technical aspects, from costumes to set and lighting, are effective and evocative.

At Wednesday night's preview performance, American Stage's artistic director, Todd Olson, largely responsible for the company's artistic vision and direction in recent years, had a seat at the back of the small theater. One can only imagine how proud he must have felt when the audience moved from rapt silence to standing ovation.

Starting its new season with the Florida premiere of 'Gem of the Ocean,' American Stage proves what Aunt Ester observes: 'Ain't nuthin in God's creation that ain't good.'

ON STAGE

Gem of the Ocean

WHEN: Through Sept. 30; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: American Stage, 211 Third St. S., St. Petersburg

HOW MUCH: $22 to $35; (727) 823-7529 or americanstage.org

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