Transport yourself back to a time when, in just moments, politician Maynard Jackson will become the first African-American mayor of Atlanta, Georgia. Jackson’s historic 1973 mayoral election serves as the backdrop for Pearl Cleage’s rich romantic comedy What I Learned in Paris. Ensemble Theatre Artistic Director Eileen J. Morris directs the regional premiere. “This play deals with the politics of life. The politics of people,” said Morris. The play also deals with the politics of love.
Jackson’s righthand man, attorney J.P. Madison, is freshly divorced and newly remarried. Madison’s new wife is the young, sweet Ann, while his ex-wife is the flamboyant Evie. “Evie is a spiritual and bohemian woman,” said Morris. At the start of the play, Evie has just returned to Atlanta from a period of self-discovery in Paris. “She went to Paris and learned to be free,” said Morris. In Paris, Evie discovers herself and her feelings for her ex-husband. To complicate matters of the heart even more, Madison’s new wife is more interested in Madison’s protégé, John, than in Madison.
This is not the first time the Ensemble has produced a Cleage play. “We know this artist. We like the enriched characters she creates,” said Morris. “She allows us to…be taken away for [a] moment and wrapped in myriad layers of love and safety…That’s the beauty of what Ms. Cleage does.”
“This play is very funny [and], even though it’s set in 1973, the issues are still current.” Morris added, “It has the stuff of a good scandal. Everyone loves scandal.”
Returning cast members include Kendrick “KayB” Brown, recently seen in Fly; Cynthia Brown Garcia, who was in The Ensemble’s premiere of Christmas with Great Aunt; Detria Ward, who won a Houston Theater Best Actress award for her performance in Cleage’s The Nacirema Society; and Mirron Willis, who recently performed in the Ensemble production of The Meeting. Yunina Barbour-Payne makes her Ensemble debut.
7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays. Through April 12. The Ensemble Theatre, 3535 Main. For information, call 713-520-0055 or visit ensemblehouston.com. $23.
Sundays, 3 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 & 8 p.m.; Fridays, 8 p.m.; Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. Starts: March 19. Continues through April 12, 2015
This article appears in Apr 9-15, 2015.
