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NOVEMBER 11 -17, 1
e
By Larry Carter
The Civic Blac� Theatre
opened it 1985-86 ason
with an enjoyable, if not some­
what uneven performance, of
Lou' Peterson' "Take A Giant
Step".
The play, moo takes p ce
in Hartford, Connecticut in
1953, is about a middle clas
Black family that escaped
. the inner city for the society
of the suburb. Both parents
are singularly satisfied with
themse ves, but begins to won­
der' at's wrong with that
n of our 1"
That son, Spencer, played
by Chan Pratt, i being delug­
ed by problem that are now
only coming to the light after
having been obscured, for the
mo part, by childhood rnes
th t e fa t becomin dult­
hood re 'ties - r ce consciou -
. ne , xual w rene , de tho
The p rents, pl yed by Ray
Lett and ary Reed, have a
difficult time under tanding how
their youn talented son ho
ha what many other Black
children 1 ck, can be so un­
happy and rebelliou . Spencer,
to a great extent, onder
the e thing. nd through­
out the play he arches for the
an ers, often avoiding his
p rent, ho are ubject to high
emotion - at one point turning
to Carol, a restle married
� layed..by C q� ......
for er she cannot pro-
.vide.
The . play
pro d due in lar part to
the hope of th Civic Black
Theatre to involve white actor
and ctresse in their product-
ion . In this instance two
polish characters, Tony and
Gussie, played by Elgin Clen­
denin and Jame Fish, reseect­
ively, and a Jew, played 6y
light complexioned Black youth
reveals the trouble thi theatre
group h encountered recruit­
ing white performer for minor,
if not major roles.
The shame is apparent hen
in the closing scene of the play
the audience, perhap expecting
the height of the performance,
soon learns that it has already
p d. And th t isn't because
the material deteriorates, but
rather the chemistry between
the actors, doe. At likely
point, when the four youths
are left alone at the Scotts
home the camar die and high
five one might expect when
four young boys are given the
run of the house, unfortunate­
ly is mi ing.
. Gussie, played by James
Fish, ha intere ting lin s, even
funny, as one can feel by the
crispne s of some of hi imagery
like when he relates to the
other about the time Spencer
was caught ste . g pickles from
the grocer's pickle jar: '14...
Yeah, Spencer, and you told
him 'you'd better refill your
pickle jar, they're getting harder
to re ch." This is poken in
a monotone one step away
from a whisper.
,,.. • the whit
uburb nites and a bit removed
from the 'hand slapping -
what' happening' w ys of the
Bl ck ghetto culture, but orne­
where, the play seems to beg
for one ''Wb t it be like? - You
sequence, or what-
AlTO Y A 0 COUNSELOR A LAW
K. Morri Gavin
. GENERAL PRACTICE OF LAW
616/926 7143
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505 E. Empire Street
Benton Harbor, �I 49021
ever the 1950's equivalent to
juvenile camaraderie ould be.
Clan Pratt, the main
character in the play, does a fine
job, however, of strengthening
the elk pots hile capturing
the confusion and anguish of a
young man ho sen his
world collap ing around . him
with only a aging grandmother
cognizant enough of hi mental
state to to him a life j cket.
Ironically, it is her death th t
drives him to the brink of his
despair, and to his sick bed
where he mourns for two
week.
Chri tine, played by Cor an
Copeland provides the young
Scott with a mature friend
when he needs it mo t. Her
sincere portr yal of the 'ex­
perienced' nur relaxes the
audience she rel te her
own misfortunes to Spencer,
serving to comfort him; r-
ing him that he is not ne.
The problems Director Lean-
. der Jon has f ced in ting
'A Giant Step" certainly de-
tract from what i memor-
ble play. But it is performance
like th t of the sharp tongued
grandmother, played by Judy
9
Bady, who gi s the play an
edge, and recapture the aud­
ience with irreverent lines like
"Tell 'im, ll�, knoc 'im
down and smell 'im".
The Flower , Violet, Poppy,
and Rose, 'dahlia of the night'
portrayed by in Shelton,
Dawn illiams, and Li Sims,
add a light artistry, their
fliratious and often witty line
dd 'pop' to the production.
And, of cour ,Chan Pratt's
rong portrayal of a boy on the
I verge of manhood, singles him
out' a an emerging Blac actor
in the amazoo the tre.