The influence of esteemed American playwright August Wilson (d. 2005) will probably continue for however long theater exists. The magnificent chronicler of the Black experience, Wilson’s probing dramas, “The Pittsburgh Cycle,” span 100 years (ten plays, one for each decade). The epic series exerts a powerful pull. It can be gravitational.
In a world premiere “rolling production” in collaboration with the International Black Theatre Festival, Melda Beaty’s Coconut Cake at the Ensemble Theatre bakes up sweet and tasty. The comedy/drama is Wilson-lite. This is not a bad thing in itself, for even a Wilson knockoff comes equipped with intact bone structure. These are stories of Black men, down on their luck, maybe moneyed and middle class, but ofttimes on the edge of crashing out. History and ancestors can define the characters or defeat them, but these powerful traits can never be ignored. It’s in their DNA.
Beaty sets her play in a McDonald’s on the south side of Chicago in 2010. This allows her to debate Obama Care, take a sexual swipe at Bill Clinton, carp about corrupt Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich among other topical issues which are shoehorned into the drama with a bit too much exposition, as if these guys have never discussed these matters before. We know they have, because they have been meeting each other at the fast-food joint for breakfast ever since their retirement.
This is the play’s ace – five old men sitting around bitching about life, sex, wives, money, success, failure. Old men are not often portrayed as other than subsidiary characters, but Beaty gives them center stage. Four Blacks and one white. Hank, the white guy (Kevin Daugherty) is married to the sister of once steel worker Marty (Troy Anthony Hogan) who’s now a deacon at the neighborhood church. He carries his dog-eared Bible like a talisman. He and wife Mary have a “special relationship,” which arouses suspicions as soon as he says it.
Shady, blustery landlord Joe (Alex Morris), outlandish in dress and know-it-all attitude, constantly ribs Hank, calling him “Republican,” and generally disregards his opinions, when not outright opposing them. Eddie (Jason E. Carmichael) is the hot-to-trot rooster in the hen house always complaining about his wife Iris. He’s never seen a skirt he doesn’t chase. A proud philanderer, he can’t be tied to one woman for the rest of his life when there are so many conquests available.
The fifth is Gotdamnit (James West), a damaged soul who begs on the street outside the restaurant, yet knows everything about about what is going on between these men. “The truth shall set you free,” he intones between chuckles and barks. He’s akin to Wilson’s prototypical character, the “wise fool,” who knows the past and must proclaim it honestly, regardless of the harm that may occur.
Beaty sets all this in motion with a sure hand, abetted by the finely-tuned direction from Eileen Morris, Ensemble’s artistic director who is a wiz with Wilson, or surrogate Beaty. The restaurant set is neatly realized by Joyce Milford, with spiffy lighting by David Gipson. Whenever the anonymous young woman walks by to work in the morning, the men’s libidos go into overdrive and the lighting inside McDonald’s goes libidinous red. Melton Guy Martin and Eileen Morris’ costumes repeatedly garner appreciative audience response. Look at Joe’s aubergine zoot suit with spectator shoes or Gotdamnit’s boho hobo outfit. You can’t miss them. The clothes tell all.
Beale’s drama is finely paced with surprises and turnarounds that come fast and furious. The end reveal is a beaut – fresh and so right. We never see that coming. The old guys talk sex, money, family problems, but mostly sex and women, when not debating the Constitution, racial politics, old times, illness, AIDS and injustice.
The ensemble is first-rate, everyone individualized into his own distinct personality, flawed but instantly recognizable. Carmichael, Houston Press’ 2023 Best Actor for Tied, struts and cakewalks as horny Eddie, entering each scene with more injuries and indignities caused by aggrieved wife Iris. Daugherty, as Hank, starts out as a milquetoast Mr. Peepers, wiping down the seats and tabletop before he meticulously sets out the chess game – a subtle theme throughout – before he steals Eddie’s Viagra and comes on in high jive.
Hogan’s Marty is wounded yet buoyed by faith, with his jeremiads proclaimed in thunderous croaking. Morris is wondrously boastful as Joe, saying whatever he believes most vociferously but never knowing what he’s talking about. And West, as damaged Gotdamnit, steals each of his scenes with grunts and tics as he spouts Bible verse about seeing “the light” – a prophet not to be believed.
Even with the weighty issues buried within Beale’s play, this dramedy is gentle and kind, a feel-good play. Audience-friendly, it revels in the camaraderie of male buddies however disparate, suspicious, or envious. Everyone seems to be on the same page in life. Isn’t that always the way it is, Black or white?
Coconut Cake continues through June 1 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays; and 3 p.m. Sundays. Ensemble Theatre, 3535 Main. For more information, call 713-520-0055 or visit ensemblehouston.com. $40-$50.
