Josephine, the matriach of a large family, has called everyone together for a feast to celebrate a significant, late-in-life birthday. She’s not dying, it seems. Just the opposite: she feels that she has arrived at a time of rebirth, and her plan is to put her family on notice.
In the opening scene, we find Josephine alone, preparing for the big event by creating a computer recording for her family, expressing her new found insights: “I am no longer a suitcase for yo to pack all of your dreams, fears, and hungers. I will still love you. And extend myself to you. However I’m no longer obligated to you. . . . woman/wife/mother aren’t my identity any more. . . . Today’s the big day; putting on my big girl panties and making it happen. I’m ready to get up and do my thang!”
With an opening like that, it comes as no surprise that the family does not welcome Mom’s declaration with open arms. Especially when they learn that her “thang” is to leave home and go to live in a back to the land hippie style commune Black artists’ colony in rural New Mexico. How could she do this to her loving (and dependent) family?
The stage is well set for the fireworks that follow. Daughter Amaya is engaged to marry a very reliable, financially stable, entirely appropriate young man but, she confides to her sister Lexx, she met somebody a couple of weeks ago. On the subway. The chemistry was overwhelming. He had dimples. “I almost squirted right then and there,” she informs her sister, who is taken aback.
“You’ve squirted before?” she asks?
“No. but you know what I’m saying . . . It was like my heart squirted.”
With an introduction like that, playwright Star Finch lets us know that she is not pussy footing around. This family drama is gonna get real.
Well, real AND surreal. The time is right after the supposed end of the COVID epidemic, and things are a bit odd. For example, the sky isn’t quite right. The Northern Lights (if that’s what they are) aren’t supposed to be happening in California, and the ceiling of Josephine’s home seems to be opening up into another dimension. Nobody talks about this much, but strange things are happening beneath the surface of this family dinner. There are occasional suggestions that they are all living in some sort of simulation, or matrix. A matrix that is glitching like crazy. At one point, Uncle Tony remarks, “…it’s feeling like it might could be the end of the world.”
In this context, Josephine’s redefinition of herself beyond the roles of woman/wife/mother seems apocalyptic—as if Mother Earth or the Goddess herself were putting their foot down.
The family, supplemented by Amaya’s visiting friend, Lani, is hilarious. Uncle Tony (played fabulously over-the-top by the wonderfully comical Donald E. Lacy, Jr.) is full of opinions and booze. Jasmin Milan Williams plays Amaya, who is about to compromise her dreams for a secure marriage to a dull man, with a well of vulnerability which is covered up with healthy helpings of sass. Britanny Frazier offers a hilarious portrayal of Lexx, the most intellectual sibling, that is immediatly recognizable without being stereotypical. When Amaya confides to her how she is cheating on her fiance with a man who “ignites my God light!,” Lexx is dismissive, prompting Amaya to make the accusation: “You’re so cynical. You just want every woman to be gay!”
“Not true,” says Lexx. “I only want women to free themselves from the shackles of monogamous heterosexuality.”
Star Finch is marvelous at creating characters who are smart enough to talk like this without sounding phony or unnatural. They are completely believable.
As the insecure male child, Jaden (brought to self-centered life by Tre’Vonne Bell) is perhaps most frightened by Josephine’s planned escape. Tre’Vonne Bell perfectly captures Jaden’s jumbled package of passion, charisma, and desperation.
As a visiting friend, Lani, Teirra Allan is charmingly fresh.
“Josephine’s Feast” is a funny, enlightening exploration of a family and a matriarch in extremis. With its many pop cultural and historical references, it’s recognizable but individualized characterizations, and it’s whip-smart dialogue, “Josephine’s Feast” is a world premiere to be reckoned with. Loads of fun.
Josephine’s Feast continues at the Magic Theatre through August 20, 2023. For further information, click here.
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Rating: **** (For an explanation of Theatrestorm’s rating scale, click here.)
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“Josephine’s Feast” by Star Finch. Procued by Magic Theatre and Campo Santo. Director: Ellen Sebastian Chang. Lighting Design: Russell Champa. Costume Assistant: Jamielynn Duggan. Technical Director: David Gardner. Props Design Assistant: Leah Hammond. Stage Manager: Christina Hogan. Cultural Consultant: Aejay Marquis Mitchell. Scenic Design: Tanya Orellana. Video Design: Joan Osato. Sound Design: Lana Palmer. Assistant Stage Manager: Lauren Quan. Props Design: Brittany White. Costume Design: Kyo Yohena. Movement Direction: Travis Rowland. Board Operation: Sara “Edie” Saavedra. Audio Video: Christopher Sauceda. Lighting Assistant: Charlie Mejia.
Cast:
Teirra Allan: Lani. Tre’Vonne Bell: Khalil. Britney Frazier: Sami. Margo Hall: Josephine. Donald E. Lacy, Jr.: Tony. Jasmine Milan Williams: Amaya.
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