by Charlsie-Kern Kruger

Oakland playwright Marcus Gardley has delivered yet another remarkable play of Oakland, beautifully directed by Michael Socrates Moran. It is increasingly clear that this home-grown artist is a playwright of large significance, and it is thrilling to watch his continuing development.

At this stage, it has to be admitted that Gardley, a rising mid-career playwright of great distinction, remains under the spell of his master August Wilson. This is not a fault. Wilson is the Shakespeare of the 20th Century (I really do believe that), and there is no shame in following such an impressive model. I have little doubt that Gardley will continue to develop his own unique voice and, sooner rather than later, will explode into work that will be entirely original. He is emphatically a playwright to watch and to celebrate!

“A Thousand Ships” focuses on the intentional family formed by two close friends, Adeline Lake Merritt and Amy Melrose Durant, who, after they meet working together in the shipyards of Richmond California during world war II, decide to open a beauty salon together in Oakland. Their business survives and thrives for decades, through husbands and children, and the many vicissitudes of life. They are so close that their friendship is practically a marriage, although physical intimacy is not necessary implied.

The main action of the play takes place just before and after Barrack Obama’s election as President of the United States. Adeline and Laney are under financial pressure from the growing forces of gentrification and they are in danger of losing their business. They are counting on the repayment of a $300,000 loan they made to Laney’s son, MacArthur. MacArthur delivers a check, but it bounces, and it appears he may be in trouble with the law for possible embezzlement of funds from the very successful non-profit youth basketball league of which he is executive director. There is aother complication: MacArthur’s sister is a police offer, and is prepared to turn him in.

This family is not impoverished, by any means, yet their hold on prosperity is precarious, largely due to the realities of Black history. Adeline’s family were landowners back in Georgia, yet, as a young woman she saw their family home burned down and their land stolen by Ku Klux Klan types. Her father died in the fire. She and Laney only managed to establish themselves due to the shipyard work available to women during World War II, but unavailable after. Their salon is their life.

This family cannot be separated from the history they share with other Black families, descendants of slaves, but their story is also unique to them. “The Thousand Ships” of the title refers both to the slave ships that brought ancestors to these shores, and to the “thousand ships” that would have been built almost every year at the Richmond shipyards. And of course, one is reminded of the beautiful Helen of of ancient Troy whose face was said to have “launched a thousand ships.” The lives of Adeline and Laney, are, after all, tied together by the business of beauty—literally, in the salon, and figuratively or spiritually, in their beating hearts, their family, their beloved customers, and the ancestors.

The many intertwining tales of the beauty salon are enriched by the commentary of Adrian Roberts as “Father of Water,” an ancestral figure who appears as a sort of Greek chorus and roots the action and the characters firmly in history.

The performances delight. Halili Knox and Dawn L. Troupe create memorable characters in Adeline and Laney. As First Lady Belle Vista Montclaire, the charismatically bombastic preacher’s wife, Roland D. Bell offers a nuanced, complex, and lovable characterization. Dimond Prescott affectingly portrays a young addict being cared for by First Lady. Sam Jackson is effective as Laney’s police officer daughter, Laurel.

William Hartfield’s performance as MacArthur Bancroft deserves to be called out. Hartfield is an actor of unusual presence: alert, responsive, fully alive on stage, expressing a moment-to-moment fluidity of emotion in face and posture that is altogether exceptional.

Director Micchael Socreates Moran, and the design team of Randy Wong-Westbroke (set), Lila Karoda (props), Arielle Powell (costumes), Dr. Stephanie-Anne Johnson (lights) and Ray Archie (sound) have done admirable work as well.

“A Thousand Ships” continues in Oakland through January 5. For further information click here.

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Rating: ***** (For an explanation of TheatreStorm’s rating system, click here.)
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“A Thousand Ships”, a world premiere by Marcus Gardley. Original music by Molly Holm. Produced by Oakland Theatre Project in Association with Cal Shakes. Director: Michael Socrates Moran. Assistant Director: James Mercer III. Set Design: Randy Wong-Westbrooke. Props Design: Lilia Karoda. Costume Design: Arielle Powell. Lighting Design: Dr. Stephanie-Anne Johnson. Sound Design: Ray Archie.

Cast:

Halili Knox: Adeline Lake-Merritt. Dawn L. Troupe: Laney Melrose Durant. Rolanda D. Bell: First Lady Belle Vista Montclair. Sam Jackson: Laurel Durant Bancroft. Jasmine Milan Williams: Dimond Prescott. William Hartfield: MacArthur Bancroft. Adrian Roberts: Father of Water/Cypress Lake/Frick Shipley Bancroft.

Musicians:

Peter Barshay: Bassist. Molly Holm: Pianist.