Tambo & Bones
Reviewed by Terry Morgan
Kirk Douglas Theatre
Through May 29
RECOMMENDED
If one reads in the press that a new play is a “minstrel show,” it might give one pause about seeing said show. Historically, minstrel shows were racist entertainment in which White people wearing “blackface” makeup depicted African-Americans in a derogatory way. These shows were mostly popular in the 19th century, but regrettably carried into the 20th century as well. Fortunately, Dave Harris’s play Tambo & Bones only takes on the format of minstrelsy to examine and debunk it, and has more on its mind than just that. The world premiere production at the Kirk Douglas Theatre is smart, funny and superbly acted, a serious comedy about race that travels from the relatively recent past into the far future.
As the story begins, Tambo (W. Tré Davis) and Bones (Tyler Fauntleroy) are in the middle of a clearly fake pastoral scene, which is complete with a painted, wrinkled backdrop and cardboard trees. Tambo just wants a nap, but Bones is desperate for money, importuning the audience for quarters. Time goes by, and as the pair discovers the fraudulence of their situation, they make a decision to work together, becoming world-famous rappers. But this isn’t enough for either of the duo – Bones still wants more money and Tambo wants to change the world. Proof that he did so is given by two presenters hundreds of years hence, in which the best intentions have led to unexpected consequences.
Davis does excellent work as the initially untroubled Tambo, knowing how to work the system so as to get money from White people (“You gotta deliver a treatise on race in America…Trendy intellectual shit.”) but heartbroken and angry when he finally realizes what it all means. He’s also quite good as the future presenter, transitioning in a moment from dramatic recitation of history to obsequious showbiz simpering. Fauntleroy is terrific as the money-hungry Bones, hitting comedic moments (“Don’t give them yo chain that shit’s a rental!”) and dramatic ones with equal skill. His concluding scene (“You’re not real! I’m real!”) shocks the audience into stunned silence.
Director Taylor Reynolds doesn’t just get exemplary performances from her actors, but also stages the show with unflagging energy and visual creativity. She’s helped greatly in this endeavor by Dominique Fawn Hill’s extravagantly lush costume design and Amith Chandrashaker & Mextly Couzin’s stadium rock concert-level lighting design. Harris’s writing is genuinely amusing (a scene in which T&B encounter The Playwright is a hilarious highlight) but an anguished undercurrent flows beneath the tomfoolery that finally bursts through the surface by the end of the play. It’s an impressive piece of writing, but the rap songs seem a bit less memorable than the rest of this otherwise ambitious and very enjoyable production.
Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City; Tues.-Fri. 8 p.m.; Sat. 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun. 1 & 6:30 p.m.; through May 29. www.CenterTheatreGroup.org. Running time: approximately one hour and thirty minutes.
