EE’S BEND – Written by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder; Directed by donnie l. betts. Produced by the Aurora Fox Arts Center (9900 East Colfax, Aurora) through February 23. Tickets available at 303-739-1970 or AuroraFoxArts Center.org.
The legacy of Gee’s Bend quilt makers has encircled the globe from the tiniest beginnings in a plantation established in a bend in the river in 1816 by Joseph Gee. When times got bad, Gee sold the plantation to Mark Pettway, the sheriff of the county, in 1845. There are members of the current crop of quilters who still bear the name of Pettway. They raised the usual crops and cotton with the women making quilts from worn out work clothes to keep the families warm in the unheated huts they lived in. Finally, when the Emancipation came, many opted to stay and work the land as sharecroppers still living in poverty. In the 30’s, FDR’s Resettlement Administration bought the 10,000 acres of the original plantation and doled it out via low-interest loans to the families that had been working it all those years.
In addition to creating an original art form, many Gee’s Bend residents participated in the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, taking part in a voter registration drive led by Martin Luther King and participating in the march on Selma. In 1966, the quilters banded together into the Freedom Quilting Bee and began seriously making quilts for commerce, selling them to the stores like Bloomingdale’s and Sears. This allowed the beauty of their work to take on the mantle of “Textile Art” with the result that, in 2002, an exhibition of Gee’s Bend quilts was displayed at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Denver too has an amazing group of women who quilt for their own enjoyment and commerce. The Wa Shonaji Quilt Guild generously loaned their beautiful quilts to the Fox for illustration of what can be done with a little skill and creativity. While the women of Gee’s Bend favor the traditional darker patterns of their predecessors, the younger members of both the Denver Guild and the current Gee’s Bend group have created colorful original patterns that move the art form further into the realm of Textile Art.
The story told in the production of GEE’S BEND is the story of one family that has been a part of this semi-isolated group for several generations. Starting with the wisdom of Alice Pettway (played by the legendary Sheryl McCallum) as the heavy-handed matriarch of the family which includes two teenage girls, Sadie (Yasmine Emani Hunter) and Nella (Daja McLeod). Her efforts at keeping the girls from making the same mistakes she made as a teenager are only partially successful. But she does instill a deep strength and independence in both of them. It takes a while to manifest itself, but they both finally come into their own. The tale of the daughters is told through courtship, marriage, abuse, and history. Sadie marries young and continues the legacy of the quilters. Nella “don’t do no sewing.” They are both feisty, but Sadie’s life changes when Mason (Stevie Wise) locks her out of the house when she comes home bowed and beaten after the Selma March. All of the actor’s give authentic and committed portrayals of their characters. Wise goes from an enamored teenager caught up in Sadie’s plot to get married and out from under her mother’s thumb – to an embittered and disillusioned husband more prone to talk with his fists than his voice. McLeod retains her feisty self-centered character through the years. McCallum lives through the decades to play Alice and then Alice’s granddaughter 60 years later.
But this is Hunter’s show. The guiding force who moves historical events in front of her. Displaying a powerful voice through interludes of gospel music and historical anthems, she controls the picture. Determined to make her place in the world, her dreams reach fruition in a scene where she and Nella visit the exhibit of their quilts in a museum. They are astounded and proud of how beautiful they look displayed under light and delight themselves by recognizing each woman’s work by the style and needle work.
Another beautiful set by Brandon Case that utilizes trees surrounding a clearing in the woods that becomes everything the play needs to tell its story. His projections of the land around Gee’s Bend and the brutality of the action in Selma put the audience in the middle of the story. One special little touch that Brett Maughan, the Lighting Designer, threw in at the end for our enjoyment was the tranquility symbolized by the presence of fireflies.
A WOW factor of 8.25!