Alric Davis, the founding artistic director of The Sankofa Collective, and Alice Walker’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple go way back. Possibly, too far back.
“I read it when I was too young to be reading it,” says Davis with a laugh.
It’s his grandmother, an avid reader, that Davis credits for introducing him to the book, one of her favorites, when he was 11 or 12 years old. This weekend, Sankofa and The Garden Theatre will open Houston’s first all-local, all-professional production of The Color Purple’s musical adaptation – a production that Davis and Logan Vaden, the founding artistic director of The Garden Theatre, will co-direct.
Davis remembers Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated 1985 film version, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, also being “a classic” in his house growing up, but he developed a deeper understanding of the story and characters in 2013, which was his senior year at G. W. Carver High School.
That year, Carver, under their Tony Award-winning theater director Roshunda Jones, became the third high school to stage the regional production of the 2005 Broadway musical adaptation. Davis both acted in the production and served as an assistant director.
“So, 11 years later, here I am, approaching the same story that I love so much from a different perspective,” says Davis. “Knowing it so well, pretty much my whole life, has definitely served as a benefit to now where I can interpret it.”
The novel, as has every adaptation that’s followed, tells the story of Celie, a downtrodden woman living in Georgia, over decades, beginning in the early 1900s.
“It really is an American epic, a Southern gothic epic, but what I think resonates with people is the journey of Celie,” says Davis.
Celie, Davis notes, is a victim of parental abuse, physical violence, forced separation from her family and loneliness, but “later becomes a businesswoman, takes agency and control, and she fights back and not only advocates for herself but learns how to advocate for the women and people around her.”
“All of the things she goes through, she’s almost like Atlas. She’s like Job in the Bible,” adds Davis.
Unlike the production at Carver, which “was more so focused on spectacle and the flash of the book,” Davis explains that this joint production is of the 2015 Broadway revival, which is “more so focused on the spirit.”
“I think what I like about the revival is that it’s about the transformation of the spirit. It’s really minimalist and bare bones – the most you have is a few benches, some tables and chairs – but that allows for so much imagination and creative play,” says Davis.
One idea the production will play on is the West African tradition of the griot, historians who preserve the history of their villages and cities and use their stories to entertain and uplift their people. In this way, Davis considers himself a griot and sees the show and its characters as doing the same – preserving history to help move their people in a positive way. In this production, the characters are self-aware, complete with meta moments and fourth-wall-breaking.
“It’s a really cool opportunity for us to come together and say, if these characters had the power, control and autonomy that they would want, what does that look like,” says Davis.
That this production is a regional premiere that uses local, professional talent is yet another way, Davis says, that they are breathing new life into such a well-known work.
“Using local talent and putting it on Houston bodies, Houston actors, with a Houston creative team, that in itself adds a level of freshness that does not exist,” says Davis. “There’s so much beauty in using Houston actors, who are amazing and usually have never been given the opportunity to showcase those talents, especially when it comes to men and women of color.”
Navigating the singing, acting and dancing required for the role of Celie is April Wheat, and Davis calls Wheat’s casting “a no-brainer.”
Davis found himself so impressed with Wheat’s work ethic and professionalism after the two worked together on smaller projects for The Sankofa Collective (including a benefit concert where they performed as Beyoncé and Jay-Z) that he knew he wanted to work with her in a more official capacity. The opportunity finally came up with The Color Purple, and Davis says it could not have been a better fit.
“As a person, as a human being, we naturally root for her. And so, as Celie, that’s perfect, because Celie goes through so much and the whole time we have this kernel of hope that she’s going to work it out and as April she always does,” says Davis. “She moves me to tears with how vulnerable she can be and how she uses all the experiences she’s gone through. She’s a mother. She’s a Black woman in society. She’s a classically trained singer who’s been criminally underused and underappreciated.”
As Wheat prepared for the role, Davis says he had one request he made very clear: Don’t look at any other references.
“I know Fantasia [Barrino] exists. I know Cynthia Erivo exists,” says Davis. “I said, ‘Leave all of that at the door. We want you. You’re the regional premiere of this in Houston. Bring yourself to it.’”
Davis adds that he tried to encourage everyone, from the onstage cast to the offstage creative team, to embrace the show “as an open vessel” and “allow the story to take shape.”
“If we allow ourselves to leave ego outside of the room, to just be blank canvases and allow this story to really give its message of love, of acceptance, of joy, of resilience – everything else will fall into place,” says Davis.
That said, an intentionally open and transparent dialogue about the cultural differences between The Sankofa Collective, an all-Black company, and The Garden Theatre, a predominantly white company, was needed to allow them to identify and break down the story’s universal themes, those that transcend race and class. Luckily, that’s a specialty of The Sankofa Collective, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary.
“We’ve made it our mission to bridge gaps and really build community,” explains Davis.
Still, Davis names The Color Purple his favorite musical because “it is one of the few musicals that allow us to tell a story for us by us.” It also, he says, employs “Black and brown people in a business that is not set up for us.” In both ways, it stays true to The Sankofa Collective’s mission of exposing, educating and enriching the community to, with and through theater.
“It’s my life mission to make sure that Black and brown folks are safe and heard, and this is the perfect show for it. The tagline of, I may be poor, I may be Black, I may be ugly, but I’m here – that is just it is monumental, and it’s one of my guiding lights, too.”
Davis views The Color Purple as “a call to action,” and he hopes that their production will be the same. “We want the show to serve as a call to action, to say you may not be going through exactly what Celie is going through, but you can be empowered to take ownership and control of your life as well.”
Performances of The Color Purple are scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday, August 2; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, August 3; and 2 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, August 4, at the MATCH, 3400 Main Street. For more information, visit sankofacollectivehouston.com or thegardentheatre.org. $25-$35.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
