Resonance archived in Bee-luther-hatchee

According to cultural myth, the term "bee-luther-hatchee" is an African-American slang word for the train stop after Hell. The word embodies the hard-to-define line that separates different elements of existence, proving itself to be an extremely appropriate title for the New England premiere of Thomas Gibbons' drama Bee-luther-hatchee, a play which raises questions which naturally surface in the presence of moral absolutes. It is currently playing at the Zeitgeist Stage Company at the Boston Center for the Arts.

The Zeitgeist Stage Company produces what is, though naturally flawed, a very good production of a very challenging and provoking script. Bee-luther-hatchee can neatly be divided into two parts: It first tells the story of a young, successful African-American woman named Shelita Burns who has made her career out of publishing unknown African-American writers. The second half of the show forces the audience to abandon its passivity and question truth in art and, more importantly, does truth have anything to do with art's most valuable quality _ resonance.

Without question, the production's most talented cast member is not an actor, but rather the script. Mr. Gibbons' script is forceful and intellectually challenging; stylistically it hints at the general essence of the work of Edward Albee (incidentally, Zeitgeist did his play 3 Tall Women in its inaugural season last year).

The main strength in this drama lies in the second act. The first act drags at times, the dialogue almost seeming like remnants of a scene-writing workshop. Characters engage in conversations within somewhat contrived settings, their words too obliquely showing their character traits. While Mr. Gibbons consumes a great deal of the first act with exposition, he delivers beautifully in act two. In this act, Mr. Gibbons' characters engage in dialectic debate of ideas, presenting and refuting arguments and exploiting any weaknesses they can find in their oppositions' presentation. The energy and passion of their ideas is tangible _ especially within the confines of the theater.

The strongest element of this dynamic second act is that rather than force-feed a single opinion or argument to the audience, Mr. Gibbons' dialogue compels the audience to actively, intellectually engage in the debate he stages on race, identity, aesthetics, and truth. Mr. Gibbons does not offer an easy answer to the questions his characters raise; rather, he presents in full multiple sides of the argument and places the next step in the minds and consciences of his audience. I left Bee-luther-hatchee seriously questioning the social and artistic criteria for my beliefs _ a true compliment to the strength of the script.

The five actors who comprise the cast of Bee-luther-hatchee do a fine job deftly tackling an emotionally and psychologically-laborious script. Director David Miller is fortunate to work with very talented actors who possess good instincts, as he tends to lead them to the brink of extreme caricature, yet they are still able to maintain their truth and validity by exercising restraint in regards to displays of both emotion and action.

As Shelita Burns, Naeemah White-Peppers brings an intense energy to the role. She imbues her character with an almost disturbing mix of idealism and passion _ and a set of values defined by absolutes. Ms. White-Peppers portrays her character's strengths and weaknesses with such intensity that she sometimes wavers on overpowering the script, which exists through its very well-crafted balance of passion and restrain.

Michelle Dowd is flawless as Libby Price, the author whose work Shelita publishes and which consequently garners immense critical acclaim, even though Shelita has yet to meet her face-to-face. She possesses both the grace and strength that are the soul of her role, while at the same time subtly displaying the equally necessary traits of vulnerability and mystery that ultimately propel a great deal of the script.

As the mysterious stranger, Sean, who brings Shelita's realm of perception into question, Peter Burns is equally faultless in his role, giving one of the play's most powerful and real performances. Mr. Burns has clearly mastered the perfect realm of performance that is achieved through subtlety, restraint, and emotional truth.

Michael Miller and Erika Ritton likewise give good performances in smaller, supporting roles. Both Miller and Ritton have very strong moments in their respective performances; Ms. Ritton's character comes across as somewhat amateur at times, but she does a very good job working with what sometimes seems to be a negligible part.

The production's most notable flaws appear to be a result of its direction. Miller, the director, almost seems to be pushing his actors through the scenes and dialogue. The blocking frequently comes across as forced and static; the internal mechanisms of the scenes come across as artificial at times, as if the actors were puppets being moved around somewhat awkwardly across their performance space.

Bee-luther-hatchee is performed in a small, intimate black box in the Boston Center for the Arts, a perfect venue in which to contain this very intense work. The set, designed by Miller, is highly effective _ creating four registers of space within which the play's action may occur. As a set designer, Miller's technique is much more subtle than that of his directing, relying more on suggestion than on direct presentation. Darren Evans' lighting design and Amelia McKinney's costume design are likewise not only sufficient, but both appropriate and understated.

During the moral debate of act two, one character suggests that the value of a work of art is defined by its level of resonance. If this is indeed the case, Bee-luther-hatchee is a work with a great deal of merit.

Bee-luther-hatchee runs through October 5 at the Boston Center for the Arts. Performances are Wednesday through Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 5 and 8:30 pm, and Sunday at 3 and 7 pm.

Tickets are $17.50 - $25. For more information, contact the box office at 617-426-2787.