Crumbs from the Table of Joy

Crumbs from the Table of Joy is a play written by Lynn Nottage.

Production history

The play was first performed off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theatre from May 9, 1995, through July 1, 1995. Directed by Joe Morton, the cast featured Kisha Howard, Nicole Leach, Daryl Edwards, Ella Joyce and Stephanie Roth. The New York Times reviewer wrote that the play "has an adolescent quality, suggestive of a playwright still struggling to emerge from studied imitativeness into her own mature voice".[1]

The play was produced at South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, California, from September 17, 1996, through October 20. Directed by Seret Scott the cast featured Dorian Harewood as Godfrey. The Press Enterprise reviewer wrote "Seret Scott has directed a strong, frequently moving and frequently amusing production."[2][3]

The play has received many regional productions in the US, including: Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, March 5–30, 1996[4] and Crossroads Theater Company, New Brunswick, New Jersey in March 1998.[5] It was produced at Center Stage, Baltimore, Maryland, from May 5-June 11, 2006[6] It ran at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, from June 6–25, 2006.[7]

Plot

The play takes place in Brooklyn in 1950. An African- American man, Godfrey Crump, grieving over his wife's death, finds new meaning in religion. He moves his family, Ernestine, a 17-year old and Ermina, 15 years old, from Florida to Brooklyn. Their Aunt Lily espouses Communist sentiments and Godfrey's new wife is not only a white woman, but German.[6]

Nottage has said of the play: "The 1950s was such a moment in American history in which I felt so much change...everything I had seen was in black and white. And I wanted to make it colorful. So I started writing Crumbs from the Table of Joy to try to understand that era."[6]

References

  1. ↑ Brantley, B., New York Times, New York, NY, June 22, 1995 , accessed January 25, 2010
  2. ↑ Foreman, T.E., Press Enterprise, Riverside, CA, September 29, 1996, Pg. E03
  3. ↑ ListingSouth Coast Repertory, accessed May 14, 2009
  4. ↑ Listing steppenwolf.org, accessed May 14, 2009
  5. ↑ Klein, Alvin."A Family's Journey, Literal and Otherwise",The New York Times, March 22, 1998
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Production notes, Center Stage, 2006 centerstage.org, accessed May 14, 2009
  7. ↑ Press Imagery goodmantheatre.org, accessed May 14, 2009

External links