BERTA, BERTA

The New Theatre at Firehouse in Collaboration with the Conciliation Project Presents the Virginia Premiere of a Play by Angelica Chéri

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

At: The Firehouse 1609 West Broad St., Richmond, RVA 23220

Performances: September 27 – October 15, 2023

Ticket Prices: $15-$35

Info: (804) 355-2001 or firehousetheatre.org.

O Lord Berta Berta O Lord gal oh-ah
O Lord Berta Berta O Lord gal well now
Go ‘head marry don’t you wait on me oh-ah
Go ‘head marry don’t you wait on me well now

Inspired by a prison chain-gang song that originated on the euphemistically named Parchman Farm – a Mississippi State Penitentiary –  BERTA, BERTA is a love story, an allegory, a tale of historical fiction, a memory, and an inheritance. Chéri found inspiration in August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson (1987) in which the song is featured. But that’s not all.

In many ways, the couple in Angelica Chéri’s play, which premiered in the 2018 Contemporary American Film Theatre Festival (CATF) reminded me of the 2019 American Film Institute (AFI Fest) debut of the film, Queen and Slim. I rooted for Berta and Leroy just as I rooted for Queen and Slim, against all the odds, against the inevitable, against the evidence – because we have to have hope, we have to have love.

Might not want you when I go free oh-ah
Might not want you when I go free well now
Don’t know the difference when the sun go down oh-ah
Don’t know the difference when the sun go down well now

Katrinah Carol Lewis and Jerold E. Solomon were cast as Chéri’s reunited and doomed lovers, Berta and Leroy. But there is more to each of these characters than just that bare-bones description. Both Berta and Leroy are burdened with the sins of post-slavery America, the unwanted weight of the segregated south, and the crimes of being born Black in America. Both are people that we might meet, once knew, know of, or are related to.

Berta in Meridian and she living at ease oh-ah
Berta in Meridian and she living at ease well now
O Lord Berta Berta O Lord gal oh-ah
O Lord Berta Berta O Lord gal well now
I’m on old Parchman, got to work or leave oh-ah
I’m on old Parchman, got to work or leave well now

Leroy has spent time at Parchman Farm, and on his way to reunite with his former lover after his release, he commits yet another crime that seals his fate. Berta, who tired of waiting three years for Leroy – her one true love and soulmate – married a well-meaning but boring farmer who loved her, but he died, leaving her a widow with a ramshackle farmhouse in a small country town. On top of all that, she lost her only child who was stillborn. Both Berta and Leroy are waiting on a miracle – the miracle of the cicadas – to fulfill their deferred dreams.

That’s a lot of weight for two characters, two actors to carry. Both Lewis and Solomon are more than capable of bearing the load. Lewis is well known for authentic, riveting portrayals, from real-life Billie Holiday to fictitious Nora in A Doll’s House or even an entire cast as she did in Anna Deavere Smith’s one-woman play, Twilight Los Angeles 1992. Berta must be added to Lewis’ list of unforgettable characters. It is the kind of role that leaves the audience speechless, so I can only imagine how much it requires of Lewis to step into Berta’s worn slippers night after night.

Solomon is also a larger-than-life figure, and it could be easy to overact this role, but Solomon presents a well-rounded, sympathetic picture of this well-meaning Black man whose dreams have been dashed before he could even verbalize them. The hand of director Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates is clearly imprinted on this stunning work, yet there is a softness that seems to have been previously – perhaps intentionally – untapped.

Berta, Berta is one of those magnificent works that reflects an immersive relationship between author, director, actors, lighting, scenic design, and sound. Chris Raintree’s roughshod wooden planks, wood stove, porch pump, and vines – so many vines – perfectly capture Berta’s rural home, the southern geography, the era, the mood. Kyle Epps feeds in the sounds of a harmonica, the cicadas and other ambient sounds in a way that is both natural magical. The same can be said of Andrew Bonniwell’s lighting that frames the stage from the top, the bottom, the back, and even from under the floorboards. The total effect is both heartwarming and heartrending; it reveals how tenuous are the lines between dreams and nightmares, the softness of a lover’s touch, and the kick of the moonshine Berta shares with Leroy.

This is, quite simply, a magnificent theatrical experience that cannot be described; it must be experienced.

O Lord Berta Berta O Lord gal oh-ah
O Lord Berta Berta O Lord gal well now

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Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Eastern Henrico County.

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BERTA, BERTA

By Angelica Chéri

Directed by Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates

September 27 – October 15, 2023

CAST

Berta             ……….           Katrinah Carol Lewis

Leroy              ……….           Jerold E. Solomon

U/S                  ……….           Shalandis Wheeler Smith & Delvin Young

PRODUCTION TEAM

Scenic Designer       ……….           Chris Raintree

Lighting Designer    ……….           Andrew Bonniwell

Sound Designer       ……….           Kyle Epps

Costume Designer ……….           Nia Safarr Banks

Intimacy Director     ……….           Stephanie Tippi Hart

Asst. Intimacy Dir.    ……….           Dorothy Dee D. Miller

Assistant Director    ……….           Jeremy Morris

Research Intern        ……….           Sarah Young

Stage Manager        ……….           Grace LaBelle

Lobby Display          ……….           The Conciliation Project

Original rendition of Berta, Berta chain-gang song by Andrew Alli

Performance Schedule:

● Opening Night – September 29 at 7:30pm

● Running Thursday – Sunday through Oct. 15, 2023

● Pay-What-You-Will previews on September 27th and 28th at 7:30pm

● Pay-What You-Will performance on October 8th at 2pm

Tickets: $15-$35