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Last Updated: May 30th, 2008 - 11:49:13 |
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other.” Matthew 6:24
In “Radio Golf,” August Wilson’s final rendering in his 10-play cycle, lucrative gentrification and the plight of poor Black residents of Pittsburgh’s Hill District pull at the heartstrings of mayoral hopeful, Harmond Wilks. Speaking in modern-day African American vernacular, Wilson asks, but never answers, the moral and philosophical question: How should Black people remember their past if historical and cultural memory impedes social mobility?
Harmond Wilks, subtly and superbly portrayed by Harry Lennix, is a Pittsburgh real estate developer who is also running for mayor. Buttressed by his pubic relations-savvy wife Mamie (Tonya Pinkins) and business partner, Roosevelt Hicks (James A. Williams), Wilks is attempting to redevelop the Hill District (to be renamed Bedford Hills) with luxury condominiums and the usual upwardly mobile amenities like Starbucks and Barnes & Noble. All seems to be going according to plan until an elderly resident of the Hill District, Elder Joseph Barlow (Anthony Chisholm), protests the demolition of his home by Wilks Realty. This particular house, acquired by Wilks Realty because of nonpayment of taxes, is also the ancestral home of Aunt Ester—the matriarchal former slave who appears in other Wilson dramas—and is situated in the exact place where the Bedford Hills luxury development is to be built. Wilks discovers that his realty company acquired the property illegally and must make the decision to go on with the demolition or do the right thing.
Wilks and real-estate partner Hicks position themselves as media-savvy, race-blind entrepreneurs for the new millennium. Both are archetypes of contemporary Black entrepreneurs who have moved into the big time. They live in integrated neighborhoods, invest in stocks and play golf. August Wilson uses golf as the overarching metaphor for class distinction and economic status.
Even though Wilks and Hicks are financially and socially poised to capture the ‘American Dream,’ they still need the endorsement of the White power structure. August Wilson cleverly employs dialogue that shows that African Americans are not completely in charge of their own destiny. “They keep changing the rules as you go along, so you can’t get to the center,”,says Sterling Johnson (John Earl Jelks), another poor resident of the Hill District.
As the protagonist, Wilks is torn between two worlds: the new, if somewhat illusionary, world of color-blindness where only determination and merit matter, and his ancestral past where race mattered and strength came from a community of likeminded souls. His attempt to master the class and cultural opposites of his past and present fill him with frustration and angst-filled reflection.
As Harmond Wilks, Harry Lennix’s performance builds from bourgeois smugness to volcanic protests. He evolves from a sophisticated African American, who seemingly knows his place in the world, to a man who questions everything. And that is what makes his character so interesting and unsettling. Wilks is about to acquire the things that many people aspire to: wealth, comfort and celebrity. Yet, the dance with his racial heritage could topple everything.
In the second half of the play, Wilson’s words fit Lennix like a second skin. The writer’s layered revelations and sweet metaphors flow from Lennix as if they were his own musings. When it comes to articulating the trials and tribulations of contemporary Black men, no African American playwright matches the panache and textural depth of August Wilson.
James A. Williams gives a powerful performance as Roosevelt Hicks. Unlike Wilks, Hicks does not serve two masters. He is only obedient to his dream of upward mobility. Williams’ portrayal is that of a Black man who has struggled to get away from ‘the hood’ and is definitely not going back. Referring to the lifestyle of the Blacks in the Hill District, Hicks says, “ No one should want to live in chaos.” Hicks will use any means necessary to obtain the ‘brass ring,’ even if it means being used as a front man in the purchase of a radio station by a racist business associate.
As the wife of Harmond Wilks, Tonya Pinkins makes the most out of the smaller, supporting role, delivering an insightful performance that details the sacrifices some women make for their men. “I have tied myself so close to you, that there is no me,” says Mamie Wilks, realizing that her husband’s decisions have destroyed her own career opportunities.
Sterling Johnson and Elder Barlow are the contemporary personifications of Wilks’ ancestors. Wilson uses these characters as messengers of cultural memory. In one scene, Elder Barlow bursts in to Wilks Realty and breathlessly asks, “Are there any Christians here?” The humor that Wilson has embedded in Barlow doesn’t diminish the character’s streetwise credibility and hard-won common sense.
Chisholm brings a wealth of experience to this role, having performed in other Wilson works, most recently in Gem of the Ocean. In this role, Chisholm’s brilliance lies in his ability to find the balance between humor and pathos. His monologues are delivered with an almost religious fervor, as if just speaking Wilson’s words gives salvation to the soul.
Sterling Johnson (John Earl Jelks) is the type of Black man who lives and works outside of the system, but is able to look perceptively at the system and decipher what is working and not working. Firmly rooted in the tradition of the Hill District, Johnson reminds Wilks of his roots.
“So what kinda of mayor you gonna be, a mayor for Black folks or White folks?” asks Johnson. Jelks’ tactile understanding of this character enables him to give a bravura performance of the highest magnitude.
In death as in life, August Wilson successfully served two masters: the souls of Black folk and the transformative experience of theatre. And humanity is all the better for it.
Radio Golf is now playing at the Cort Theater in New York City until July 1, 2007.
© Copyright 2006 SeeingBlack.com
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