Too Heavy for your Pocket
Reviewed by Vanessa Cate
Sacred Fools Theater Company
Extended through March 23
Jiréh Breon Holder’s kitchen-sink drama spotlights the lives of two African-American couples in Tennessee in 1961. While the play features familiar dramaturgical stereotypes, it achieves poignancy and freshness by focusing on the Civil Rights movement through the prism of class and gender.
The play begins with joy as Sally-Mae Carter (Kacie Rogers) prepares for her graduation from beautician school. She and her husband Tony (Shane Liburd) are also expecting their first child, so the couple is entering what should be an exciting new time in their lives.
Best friends to the Carters, Evelyn (Jaquita Ta’le) and Bowzie (Derek Jackson) are supportive and loving. And Bowzie has news of his own: he has just been accepted into Fisk University, a prominent, predominantly black college in Nashville, on a full scholarship.
Neither of the couples has very much money, save for a little brown box full of crumpled dollar bills stashed by the refrigerator. Still, they do what they can to assist each other, whether via a new paint job for the car that will drive Sally to graduation, or a fine new suit hand-sewn for Bowzie’s education.
But things do start to come apart at the seams. Tony has been working extra hours every day, fueling Sally-Mae’s suspicions of infidelity and gambling. At Fisk, Bowzie, insecure because of his working class roots, initially feels anxious about fitting in. But eventually he falls in with a new crowd at school and becomes inspired to take action alongside the Freedom Riders. This is much to the dismay of Evelyn, who as the breadwinner supports their household with her singing.
Tensions multiply. Each person becomes increasingly frustrated when their efforts to do what’s right are taken for granted and they begin to suspect that their labors may prove futile.
Many of the play’s emotional revelations are presented through lengthy letters, read aloud. Legitimate suffering occurs but could have been avoided. And the final scene, while visually striking, is muddy and inconclusive. Maybe that’s intentional — a way of suggesting that these types of struggles are ongoing, without a clean resolution. Maybe it’s careless writing.
Still, civil rights and the Black experience in America are important enough to make the production warranted. And while stereotyping Tony as a no-good cheater is perhaps unfair, it does enable the playwright to emphasize a feminine perspective. In both Sally and Evelyn, we witness women burdened by authentic and unmet needs.
Given the weight of the subject matter, another director might have chosen to cultivate angst-ridden characters, but director Michael A. Shepperd infuses the cast with a buoyancy and love that carries throughout the play. This levity, along with some fine performances, elevates the script and invests us in the outcome, even when the stakes don’t entirely make sense.
With Bowzie’s character, however, Shepperd’s direction seems to have misfired (despite Jackson’s vigor in the role). And there are other directorial issues. Not only do certain moments of humor or sexuality fall flat, but the small performance space turned thrust stage creates blocking challenges — actors regularly upstage each other and some audience members receive a back-heavy performance.
Production elements are solid across the board, and the uncredited vocal direction, especially on “Evelyn’s Song,” is remarkable. Too Heavy for your Pocket may have its flaws, but its sincerity and elements of inventive creativity work well to endear it.
Sacred Fools Theater Company at The Broadwater, 1078 Lilian Way, Hollywood; Fri./Sat., 8 p.m. & Sun., 7 p.m.; extended through Mar. 23. www.sacredfools.org. Running time: approximately two hours with one 15-minute intermission.
