Nicolette Ellis and KJ Powell (Photo by Kayte Deioma)
Reviewed by Lovell Estell III
International City Theatre
Through September 8
African-Americans served bravely, fought, and died, during WWII for a country that didn’t want them in the armed services, steadfastly continued to deny them their basic civil rights and considered them as second-class citizens. Historian Stephen Ambrose pointedly underscored the hypocrisy and irony of this situation when he said, “The world’s greatest democracy fought the world’s greatest racist with a segregated army.”
Carole-Eglash-Kosoff’s play takes place in 1942 amidst the fevered, patriotic zeal that started with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and dramatizes the little known, true story of the “Double V” crusade that helped forge the way for African-Americans, men and women, to be a part of the war effort in America.
It all starts with a simple letter written by Jimmy Thompson (KJ Powell) to the Pittsburgh Courier (at that time, one of the premier Black newspapers in the country) in which he speaks of his desire to enlist and the many injustices suffered by Black Americans — such as the vicious assault he endured by two racist thugs (Lee James, John E. Phillips) when he expressed his desire to enlist. He persuasively advocates for a symbolic double V for African-Americans: one for victory over “our enemies from without, the second V for victory over our enemies from within”
The letter assumes a life of its own when Madge (Jennifer Shelton), an ambitious journalist tired of writing about “bake sells and weddings,” pushes her editor Ira (Nic Few), who is also her boyfriend, to pursue the story. After traveling to Wichita to interview Jimmy and his family, she returns to the office and convinces Ira to promote the idea of the Double V campaign. The Black press across the country join the movement, and it eventually catches the attention of F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover, who sends agent William Taylor (James), to the Courier’s office to quell the fire. Hoover’s reasoning: Pushing for civil rights in a time of war would seriously disrupt the “esprit’ de corps of the moment and hamper the war effort.
Eglash’s script successfully uncovers this significant, little known event in the struggle for civil rights in America, yet it would be far more engaging if it included more nuanced, substantive detail (the finale is rather neat and convenient), and didn’t lean so heavily on the generic elements of the period. Mirroring the romance between Ira and Madge is the prospective coupling of Jimmy and Annie (Nicolette Ellis), but their relationship feels pro forma and shallow.
The performances are uniformly good under Michael Shepperd’s efficient direction. Phillips does a thoroughly chilling turn as the despicable, bigoted foreman Charles Simpson at the Cessna plant where Jimmy works.
Scenic Designer Tim Mueller’s two mobile props (which are rotated throughout) effectively evoke the interiors of the newspaper’s office, airplane plant and the Thompson home.
Beverly O’Neill Theater at International City Theater, 330 E. Seaside Way, Long Beach. Thurs –Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sundays 2 p.m. Running time: 2 hours with fifteen minute intermission. (562) 436-4610 www.ictlongbeach.org
