By Eleanor Ferguson
The U of L African American Theater Program (AATP) put on “The Gem of the Ocean,” in the Belknap Playhouse. It is directed by Shona Tucker and written by August Wilson.
The AATP was founded in 1993 and is the first and only accredited graduate program in African American Theatre in the nation.
The show is set in August 1904, in a found-family house headed by matriarch Aunt Ester. Citizen Barlow arrives on her doorstep one day desperate for help, and she sets him on a spiritual journey, forever altered by his relationship with the family. The play is the ninth work in Wilson’s ten-play cycle recording the Black American experience.
After the performance, Dr. Lundeana Thomas stepped out into the aisle, wearing a red suit, to interrupt the show’s extended standing ovation. She is the former director of the African American Theater Program. Walking down the aisle, she held out her hands, grinning, and announced that she had something for the cast. With the help of a couple of techs, she gave a bouquet to each cast member, including the play’s director. Armed with red and white bouquets, the cast bowed a final time.
The cast, pictured in the gallery, is:
Role Actor
Eli Taijee
Citizen Barlow Tajleed Hardy
Aunt Ester Nyazia Martin
Black Mary Kyrstal Waller
Rutherford Selig Robert MacFarland
Solly Two Kings Michael Joseph Barber
Caesar Nicholas Wills
File Photos // Eleanor Ferguson, The Louisville Cardinal
